Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Sep 1, 2024
Table of Contents
Usually when a feature film is being made, everyone involved wants it to be filmed and distributed as fast as possible. Writing and development take time, and it’s normal for a screenwriter to workshop a script over longer periods of time, but once a project is greenlit, schedules are framed in terms of weeks. When production drags on months, even years, it’s often a sign something didn’t go according to plan behind the scenes. Script changes, actors becoming unavailable, cast and crew falling out with each other, entertainment industry strikes, worldwide pandemics, and even natural disasters push production schedules later and later, which then leads to snowballing production costs and logistical problems.
All of this to say, it’s pretty unusual for a filmmaker to choose to shoot a movie over the course of eight years. But, director and writer Halitha Shameem had a pretty good reason for taking this course for ‘Minmini’, a story of overcoming survivor’s guilt together whose title translates to “firefly”. Set first at a boarding school and then in the Himalayas on a motorbike trip as the characters grow up, Shameem chose to film with her child actors, and wait for them to grow up to shoot the second half of the movie where they play their adult selves rather than recasting the older versions of the characters. Some audiences and readers may be reminded of Richard Linklater’s ‘Boyhood’ released in 2014, which follows a boy named Mason (Ellar Coltrane) from his early childhood to when he goes off to university, and filmed from 2002-2013 in a similar fashion. Between 2015 when filming started and 2022 when production wrapped on ‘Minmini’, the media landscape changed drastically, technology made leaps and bounds, and the world pushed through a global pandemic, so it seems like a miracle from an outsider’s perspective that this film was finished and came out anywhere close to what Shameem originally envisioned.
‘Minmini’ starts at a boarding school in Ooty where Sabari (Pravin Kishore) has an adversarial relationship with one of his classmates, Pari (Gaurav Kaalai). Over months they grow closer, despite the mismatch in their personalities. Just as Sabari is ready to call Pari a friend, Pari saves Sabari from an accident and unfortunately passes away. Sabari is crushed by survivor’s guilt, triggering an identity crisis. Meanwhile, a girl named Praveenah (Esther Anil) has just had a heart transplant, and once she recovers she is enrolled in that same boarding school. Once there, she realizes she and Sabari are connected through Pari.
Cut to years later, where both Sabari and Praveenah are on motorbike trips through the Himalayas. Sabari doesn’t realize who he has run into when their paths cross again, but they accompany each other on a mutual journey to find themselves in the beautiful vistas of the mountains. It’s an emotional journey, metaphorically and literally, undertaken by two people unknowingly connected by tragedy. Survivor’s guilt is a complex emotion that often takes years to unravel and grapple with, so Shameem’s unique approach to filming and a desire for continuity between when her characters are in school and when they’ve grown up is admirable.
Though it’s a heartfelt story, Shameem’s previous works are a tough act to follow. Survivor’s guilt is a painful thing to live with, and this project was an attempt at coming to terms with this monumental, weighty emotion, but somehow it falls just short of great. Each scene is its own vignette that explores the relationship between characters in that isolated moment, but the way they’re strung together feels a bit disjointed. Similarly, the gap between Sabari and Praveenah’s grade school years and their Himalayan trip as young adults is an interesting approach, but there seems to be very little context for how each of them have tried to deal with their pent up trauma and emotions in the meantime. The issues in pacing mean this film is more successful as a character study than anything else, a testament to each actor’s ability and devotion to these characters over nearly a decade. Shameem is laser focused on these two with little room for other characters or subplots, but the acting keeps this detail from completely overshadowing the whole movie despite some weaker, clichéd dialogue. Though an exploration of this type of grief is well-timed and well-meaning post-pandemic, it’s hard to say whether or not it will find a global audience.
‘Minmini’ might not be able to rest on its ambitious production to get audiences in the door, but great acting is amplified by beautiful cinematography done by Manoj Paramahamsa and Abinandhan Ramanujam, that embodies the feeling of being in school away from people you love in a specific, nostalgic way one can see resonating with audiences around the world, not to mention how they captured the beauty of traveling through the Himalayas and the journey of finding one’s self in life. I found myself getting lost in both the more dramatic and more relaxed sections of music by Khatija Rahman, who matched the tone of each scene and delivered a fitting score that understood its purpose in her debut as a film composer. In a world where snappy, jumpy, borderline phrenetic editing is commonplace on social media and increasingly so in movies, this slower, intentional exploration of character and emotion is a welcome addition.
On the whole, ‘Minmini’ is a genuine, original story in pursuit of exploring complex emotions of survivorship and guilt, that despite some shortcomings showcases great work by its actors, cinematographers, and composer. It’s a different take on Tamil cinema and storytelling, but Halitha Shameem can absolutely be admired for her ambition in this film.
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
Abigail Whitehurst is an entertainment professional and writer for Hollywood Insider based in Los Angeles, CA. Having lived all over the world as part of a military family and having pursued a bachelors of music, she brings a unique outlook to the entertainment industry. A life-long learner and researcher, Abigail is pursuing her masters in entertainment management. She strives to write through the lenses of context, analysis, and Hollywood Insider’s values to bring a fresh perspective to industry trends, entertainment business, and new film and TV releases. Her favorite place is a movie theater, and she’s always hunting for the deeper meaning and studying media as it pertains to culture. Film, TV, and interactive media are some of the most impactful artforms of our day, and they are worth digging into and analyzing. Everything is connected, whether it’s through Bacon numbers or history. When she’s not writing or at the movies, you can find Abbie crocheting or playing video games with her partner.
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