Class divisions take centre stage in director Irfana Majumdar’s feature debut, Shankar’s Fairies. Set in northern India in 1962, the film revolves around the daily life of a senior police officer’s family and their primary servant, Shankar (Jaihind Kumar), as seen through the eyes of the officer’s young daughter, Anjana (Shreeja Mishra).
The film rarely strays from the house and lush grounds belonging to senior police officer Ramesh (Gaurav Saini) and his family. Lower-ranking officers guard the house and offer their services to the family, but longtime servant Shankar primarily does the domestic work. He quietly listens to orders and reproaches from Sudha (Majumdar), the condescending wife of egotistical Ramesh. However, Shankar also tells stories to the family’s two children and cares particularly for Anjana, in part because he has a daughter her age back home in his village. Anjana craves Shankar’s stories and develops a bond with him even as she unknowingly develops classist habits from her wealthy parents.
While we gain some insight into the titular character, Shankar nevertheless remains a distanced, mysterious figure to the viewer as the film largely presents from Anjana’s perspective. Even when Shankar travels home to visit his severely ill daughter, we stay rooted with Anjana while she impatiently awaits his return. A reserved servant, we glean more about Shankar’s character through his stories and actions, as well as through the way his colleagues treat him. He voluntarily takes the fall for a fellow servant’s mistake, he delicately prepares Anjana’s school lunches, and other servants and low-ranking officers treat him with friendly respect.
While the film portrays the class divide between Shankar and Anjana’s family in a manner that exposes the upper class family’s prejudices and disdain, the film’s choice to stay in the perspective of the family when Shankar travels home creates a missed opportunity to add depth to Shankar’s character and give him a stronger voice in a story about class inequality.
Majumdar adds levity to expose the absurd nature of class division. While setting up for Anjana’s birthday party, low-ranking officers sit on the lawn alongside Anjana blowing up balloons and making crafts while Sudha stands nearby, supervising. It’s a scene that aims to dismantle a ridiculous system by poking fun at it. In other instances, the viewer can either laugh or rage against Sudha and Ramesh’s inflated self-importance. During one family dinner, Ramesh tells Anjana that his grandfather was a servant to Queen Victoria; rather than humbling Ramesh, he is quick to point out that his servant grandfather had servants of his own to do the majority of the work. Ramesh is unable to recognize his roots and instead uses them to elevate his ego. Meanwhile, during afternoon tea with a friend, Sudha takes credit for Shankar’s service, insisting that she is the one who has worked hard to “teach Shankar everything.”
In addition to exposing the upper class’s infuriating contempt for others, Shankar’s Fairies also captures the naivety of children. On the one hand, the film endears us to Anjana through Shankar’s bond with her and her desire to live through fantastical stories, but it also grapples with growing up as a child in a classist society and how habits are transferred between generations. Anjana genuinely adores Shankar and yet, as young as she is, she has already picked up habits from her parents that perpetuate class divisions. For example, Anjana never says ‘please’ or ‘thank you’ to Shankar, directing instead of asking, taking on her parents’ assumptive attitudes towards their servants. Despite this, we witness the bond between Anjana and Shankar, and it is Shankar’s kind-hearted treatment of Anjana that largely moves us to care for her in turn.
A cruel twist of irony towards the end further solidifies class lines between Shankar and Anjana and tests the boundaries of his loyalty, but storytelling proves to be an important outlet in both their lives, giving us hope for their continued bond.
Shankar’s Fairies premiered at this year’s Locarno Film Festival in the Concorso Cineasti del presente section, which showcases debut and second feature films from emerging global filmmakers.
Score: B