There’s no one in this world that hasn’t had a rendezvous with nostalgia. It’s a powerful feeling, perhaps the most powerful for some. But have you thought about a world without nostalgia? What do you think would happen if you didn’t know what nostalgia feels like?

Nostalgia involves brain structures responsible for self-reflection, memory, emotion regulation, and reward processing. It activates the reward system and memory areas, combining present and past emotions and senses to increase desire. It can provide stability, positivity, continuity, and strength. But where would humanity be if we forgot about nostalgia?

The ‘Three of Us’ is a leaf from movies like ‘Our Friends’ and ‘Past Lives’, but relying heavily on the performances of actors like Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat, the movie will surely be unforgotten for a while. 

We journey through the character of Shailaja (played by Shefali Shah), who suffers from dementia and has a sudden inkling of visiting her hometown in Vengurla. Having been residents of the concrete jungle of Mumbai, one would think this was a quiet escape, but as the story moves forward, we see a silent cry of a woman desperately trying to keep her past alive, one she had long forgotten as though asleep.  

With scripting and dialogues done by Varun Grover and Shoaib Zulfi Nazeer, the movie is filled with quotes and lines delivered effortlessly by the lead actors, which will find a spot on Instagram quotes and late-night chats between lovers. The word “Udgam”, which means “The Origin”, written by Pradip in the movie as the title of a poem he wrote, resonated throughout the movie, reflecting the importance of every character’s life as they visited their past.

Shefali Shah brilliantly expressed the emotional range of someone who is grappling with dementia, switching between extreme emotions while trying to pretend that she could hold on to her slipping memories. As she comes to Vengurla to visit her past, we can see how, for a brief moment, she recalls the memories that made her leave in the first place. How, after a tragic incident with her sister left her family broken and her childhood never the same.

Shailaja’s conquest to seek her long-lost friend Pradip (played by Jaydeep Ahlawat) takes her closer to her childhood as they both reach out to time to give them another chance to say what was once left unsaid. They visit the old, tattered streets of Vengurla in search of themselves, which time and age had snatched away, hoping to live out the rest of their lives in nostalgia. 

As Shailaja starts spending more time with her childhood friend Pradip, her husband Dipankar (played by Swanand Kirkire) asks her if she was ever happy with him like she is now. Having not known much about her past, one would think it was a fair question, but Shailaja gives us a different perspective of life and relationships with a counter question: “Have we ever been sad together?” nudging her husband to rethink the years they had spent together.

As casual banter, her friends ask her if she has ever visited the scary old woman who lived by the sea when they were kids, which leads you to an exceptional scene between Shailaja and the old woman when she finds herself wandering around Vengurla. The mysterious old woman asks her, “What are you carrying with you?” and Shailaja tells her about the horrifying accident with her sister Venu that ended up taking her life, which prompted Shailaja and her parents to relocate to Mumbai without bidding farewell to their past. While leaving, the old woman asks Shailaja sarcastically if her friends thought she was no longer and tells her that she was alive because Shailaja chose to remember her all these years.

As Shailaja reconciles with her past and her short stay ends, we see a pivotal scene between Shailaja and Pradip as they mount a Ferris wheel. As the wheel comes to a halt, so does time, giving them another chance to reconcile their silence. Shailaja asks for forgiveness for leaving Vengurla without bidding farewell, and he thanks her for remembering him and coming back. A scene that has the power to move you gives you a masterclass in simple lines and exceptional acting skills, portrayed by Shefali Shah and Jaideep Ahlawat.

Throughout the movie, we see a woman trying to keep her past alive, hoping that nostalgia will help her survive the decay of time, and as she faces those old broken walls of a past forgotten, we realise the harrowing challenges that time presents in all our lives. 

Rating: 4/5