Samarth Mahajan

An intimate exploration of how everyday lives intertwine with personal and political borders in the Indian subcontinent.

The Unreserved is an inquiry into the lives of passengers who use the Unreserved Compartment, the cheapest way to travel across India on the Indian Railways system. The film portrays the passengers’ aspirations, efforts and opinions through conversations and personal stories.

At the onset of monsoons, millions of fireflies come out to mate in the forests around the remote tribal village of Purushwadi. The villagers tell us a story of how the surreal natural phenomenon intertwined with their lives.