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Are You Listening?

Name: Are You Listening?
Director: Geethu Mohandas
Released: 2009
Duration: 22 min

Representation Score

5.8/10

Fair

2009

Director

Geethu Mohandas

Runtime

22 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

Geethu Mohandas creates a sophisticated character study that challenges traditional cinema by focusing on a blind four-year-old. The film shifts the power dynamic from the observer to the perceiver, using soundscapes to create a rich, sensory world. The film handles disability with nuance, avoiding it being used merely as a plot device or for inspiration. Instead, Hasna’s blindness is central to the film’s language, giving her significant cognitive ability to act. While the film stays within traditional social drama boundaries regarding gender and sexual orientation, its localized perspective and sensory experience offer a meaningful departure from conventional storytelling.

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Category Breakdown

Does Are You Listening? have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film focuses on a rural Kerala village and does not include any LGBTQ+ characters or stories about non-straight relationships.

How does Are You Listening? portray gender?

Fair

The story centers around a young female protagonist whose emotions and thoughts drive the narrative. She plays a significant role in shaping the story.

How racially and ethnically diverse is Are You Listening??

Good

The film offers an authentic look at a specific community in Kerala, India. It avoids a Western perspective by highlighting local cultural and social elements.

How does Are You Listening? represent religion and culture?

Good

The film examines the impact of urbanization on traditional lifestyles. It emphasizes the protagonist's unique viewpoint and personal truths over societal norms.

Does Are You Listening? include disability representation?

Excellent

The film excels in its portrayal of disability. It integrates blindness into the protagonist's identity as a source of unique perception rather than a source of pity.

Present on Screen

Exceptional portrayal of disability that grants the protagonist significant cognitive ability to act.
A sensory-driven narrative that challenges the traditional dominance of visual storytelling.
Localized storytelling that avoids a Western perspective, focusing on specific regional elements.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks representation of LGBTQ+ identities or non-straight relationships.
Gender dynamics stay within traditional bounds without challenging social hierarchies.

Official Synopsis

In the isolation of a sleepy village in Kerala, lies a garage overlooking the River Periyar. Little Hasna is a four year-old girl born totally blind at birth. During her Christmas break, her mother, who works as a maid in town, drops her off at a local garage, under the care of Vellapan and Chacko, the garage workers. Sitting on her designated chair, her only source of entertainment is the sounds echoing from the children playing on the ground ahead. Her zest and fascination for life is communicated through a fly and a cat that are part of her imaginative world. Her perspective of her surrounding and her acute sense of awareness is portrayed subtly through her mature and calm demeanor. In this era of urbanization where the world is fast changing, little Hasna although blind sees the world in her own unique way. She learns to accept the inevitable changes around her and makes us question the colors of the world. An open-ended journey.

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