Mumbai, Debutant filmmaker Karen Kshiti Suvarna says the idea behind making “September 21”, a film on Alzheimer’s, was to consciously put the spotlight on the journey that caregivers go through.
The Hindi-Kannada drama follows a father living with dementia and a son , who finds himself torn between his personal ambitions and his responsibility towards his family.
Hindi cinema has previously explored the condition in films such as “U Me Aur Hum”, “Mai”, “Goldfish”, and others often focusing on patients and their lived realities.
But at its core, “September 21” explores the emotional weight often carried by caregivers that often goes unseen.
“These films are great examples but they only deal with Alzheimer’s as a subject, they concentrated on the patients. But for this movie, we did not want to show it through that perspective because there have been many movies made on them and then there would be nothing different about our movie.
“We are showing the journey through the eyes of the caregiver. We’ve shown both positive and negative caregivers, like some are related to the person, some do it for money and are not emotionally attached to these people,” Suvarna told PTI in an interview.
She cited the example of internationally acclaimed titles like “The Father” and “Still Alice” that examine the illness with sensitivity.
“I hope the film create awareness and sparks conversations around Alzheimer’s and its emotional complexities,” she said.
The 22-year-old director said Alzheimer’s, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, has no definitive cure yet, which makes caregiving both demanding and deeply human.
“With this story, I wanted to give that message, that even if I can’t cure, I can care. It’s basically all about caring, like how these people are treated when they actually become like kids at times.
“It’s difficult to handle them, you might lose your patience as a caregiver. Through the film, we explore how caregivers take emotional and practical decisions in such situations,” she added.
The story, Suvarna said, stems from personal experiences of writer Raj Shekhar and producers Ashok Devanampriya and Ramesh Bhandari.
“Their stories shaped the film,” she said, adding, the journey of “September 21” began in early 2025 after Suvarna connected with the writer at a TEDx event in 2024.
Suvarna further said she visited care centres in Bengaluru before filming began.
“It’s a sensitive subject. I wanted to ensure we handle it with maturity and factual accuracy,” she added.
“September 21” will have its world premiere at Marché du Film at the 79th Cannes Film Festival on May 16 at the Palais Theatre, Cannes. The film was earlier showcased in the ‘Work-in-Progress’ category at the 56th International Film Festival of India .
Suvarna calls the screening of the film at Cannes Film Festival as a “big deal” for her debut feature.
“We wanted the film to reach the world audience because this is growing rapidly. In every three seconds, there is one Alzheimer patient around the world. This story deserves to be heard globally. That’s why we took it to Cannes.”
“September 21” is scheduled for an India release on May 22, with a Dubai premiere planned for May 31.
The film also features Priyanka Upendra, Zarina Wahab, Amit Behl, Ajit Shidhaye, and Sachin Patekar. It is produced by Humara Movie, Visica Films & FMD Productions, with Films Max as co-producer.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.