Broken Reflections
2024 · 21m · India
Directed by Rohan Bakshi
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
During a school bunk with his two friends, Tushar spots his mother in a restaurant and finds out about her extramarital affair.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
Coming-of-age melancholia is the safe lane, but if Bakshi's doing something genuinely weird with the mirror metaphor—if the reflection isn't just symbolic window dressing—then maybe there's subversion hiding in the contemplative drag.
Bakshi situates himself in the lineage of introspective youth cinema with formal discipline; the question is whether the melancholic register deepens into something essential or settles for tasteful ennui.
On 21 minutes and what's likely a modest budget, the entire film turns on how Bakshi deploys the mirror conceit—whether it's a production design choice, an editing rhythm, or a performance decision that transforms a familiar genre beat into something that feels earned and singular.