1 of 5 | Anoop Lokkur's debut feature, "Don't Tell Mother," tells a semi-autobiographical coming-of-age story about Aakash (Siddharth Swaroop) growing up in 1990s Bangalore. Photo courtesy of Papunu Films
BUSAN, South Korea, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Anoop Lokkur's quietly moving coming-of-age film Don't Tell Mother, which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival last week, delivers a semi-autobiographical look at life in Bangalore in the 1990s tinged with both nostalgia and the ambient specter of violence.
Much of the story is seen through the lens of 9-year-old Aakash (Siddharth Swaroop), who is trying to navigate the transition from the carefree innocence of childhood to the looming pressures of the adult world. Verbal threats abound, from parents to school bullies, while classroom punishments grow increasingly severe.
In one of the film's pivotal scenes, a brutal math teacher takes things to an extreme, thrashing Aakash across his back and leaving welts.
"When you're a kid, they'll give you chocolates," Aakash wearily tells his younger brother Adi (Anirudh P. Keserker), who idolizes him. "As you grow up, they'll give you beatings."
