A Life Together, a Dignified End
Mumbai: Film-maker Sumira Roy’s “Bhangaar” (Obsolete), an intimate Marathi-English documentary about an elderly Mumbai couple who sought the right to die together with dignity, has won the Best Non-Feature Film Award at the 72nd National Film Awards.
Written, directed and produced by Roy, and produced by Monisha Advani, Partner, Emmay Entertainment, the film follows the simple lives of octogenarians - Narayan Krishnaji Lavate and his wife, Irawati (now deceased) - who spent more than five decades together in a tiny single-room home in a century-old chawl in the congested Girgaon area of south Mumbai.
The Lavates came into the public spotlight after they petitioned the President Ram Nath Kovind in Dec. 2017, for “the right to die together”, arguing that, having lived their lives on their own terms, they wished to retain control over the final chapter of their lives.
Their petition, which attracted huge public attention, was more than 'euthanasia'. It raised difficult questions about ageing, loneliness, companionship, autonomy and what constitutes a dignified life when a person feels that he or she has become dependent and socially invisible.
Exploring the larger questions, Roy spent around four-and-a-half years, from 2018 to 2022, following the Lavates and observing their everyday lives, conversations, silences and relationships - with the entire shooting process “raw, natural and unscripted.” The film gives viewers a peek inside the couple’s modest, cramped quarters even as the restless life of Mumbai's glamour and grit continues around them.
Narayan Lavate is a retired employee of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and is currently in an old-age home in Borivali. His wife was the retired Principal of the Aryan Education Society High School in the vicinity.
“The filming, spread over more than four years, was followed by another two years of post-production before the film reached audiences. ‘Bhangaar’ began with a deeply personal question about what happens when someone we love grows old and begins to feel that they are no longer being heard,” Roy told The Perfect Voice of the six-year long journey that grew out of love and compassion.
The film’s title “Bhangaar” (discarded or obsolete) acquires a deeper resonance as the couple confront their changing and dwindling place in society. The old Girgaon chawl itself, once a microcosm of community life, was razed in 2025 for a redevelopment project, adding another layer to the film’s meditation on things, places and people that a rapidly transforming city can leave behind.
For Roy, the subject had an intensely personal attachment - her own mother had confided to her about wanting to die with dignity. Subsequently, Roy encountered the Lavates’ story, began exploring their circumstances and eventually transformed that encounter into a documentary.
“The Lavates made me look at ageing, love and mortality differently. I did not want to tell the audience whether their wish was right or wrong; I wanted to stay with them, listen to them and allow their lives to raise the questions. Receiving the National Film Award makes that intimate conversation much larger,” explained Roy.
Advani lauded Sumira for “making a truly sensitive, poignant film that succeeds in provoking thought and emotion” and expressed her delight at being part of the film.
“The film is especially personal to me. My late mother was a Maharashtrian and while growing up, the frugality of my maternal grandparents' lives somewhere was mirrored in the Lavates. Sumira has not only given me an opportunity to be a part of her wonderful film as a producer, but also in a private way, to pay tribute to my familial pedagogy. For this I remain eternally grateful,” said Advani.
The recognition touched the Lavate family. Prakash Joshi, brother of the late Irawati Lavate, said: “Hearty Congratulations Sumira Roy. It's recognition of your long days, months and years of dedication to the social problem.”
An ex-advertising professional with Ogilvy & Mather in Delhi and Mumbai, Roy developed a strong understanding of ideas, human insights and concise storytelling. These skills helped her transition from advertising to filmmaking, carrying her cinematic narrative sensibilities into a longer audio-visual format.
The National Film Award affords “Bhangaar” a wider platform for its central question: “As people grow older and begin to gradually lose their relevance in society, what does it really mean to live, and to die, with dignity?”
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