NEWS STORIES

‘Lessons in Forgetting’ is Unni Vijayan’s debut directorial venture which is produced by Prince Thampi for Arowana Studios and is an adaptation of the popular writer Anita Nair’s book by the same name. The film is said to be a gripping and heartwarming story of redemption, forgiveness and second chances which also talks about female feticide.

Director Unni Vijayan after having majored in philosophy followed his passion and enrolled himself in Pune Film Institute where he pursued courses in Editing.  He has worked extensively as an editor for television, documentaries and a few feature films.

Adil Hussain of English Vinglish and Life of Pi fame plays the lead and is supported by debutante Maya Tideman and Roshni Achreja.

Director Unni Vijayan states that ‘Lessons in Forgetting’ has a strong undercurrent of a social malady. In most of rural India, gender bias has lead to female infanticide, where a new born girl child is put to sleep amidst rituals and social approval. When this was declared a crime, people took recourse to technology. Scan centres mushroomed in small towns to tell the sex of the child and so snuffed out the girl child before it was born. There is a great divide between rural and urban India.

He further adds that the film is about a father (Adil Hussain) who is on a desperate attempt for closure on a gruesome incident affecting his teenage daughter and the course that his mission takes him to. It is also about a father’s quest to know his daughter; it is the character arc of this teenage girl from a very negative perception to a person with noble intent.