India, Sept. 10 -- IN JITANK SINGH GURJAR'S short film Baasan (2023), rural folklore assumes the centrality of a protagonist. Characters are lured in by mystical forces as they get wrapped in greed and confront a fatal outcome. His feature debut, In Search Of The Sky, is more sobering in comparison, but the preoccupation with the human psyche remains intact.

Written by Pooja Vishal Sharma, In Search Of The Sky is a tender exposition of a family caught between survival and love. Jasrath and Vidya, a married couple living in a village in Madhya Pradesh, struggle to make ends meet. Their grown-up son, however, is oblivious. He plays in the field, climbs trees with abandon and brings home a piglet, mistaking it for a puppy. Naran is speciall...