‘Angh’ Review: Toronto’s Platform Award Winner Is a Lush Lament for an Indian Tribe in the 1960s

In his debut feature, director Theja Rio crafts a dreamlike atmosphere in his tale of colonial encroachment.

By Siddhant Adlakha

Siddhant Adlakha

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Expanding on his 2021 short film, Theja Rio’s debut feature “Angh” forces its way into the hidden crevices between indigenous identity and colonial modernity. This tension unfolds with riveting restraint in a story set in 1960s Nagaland — the eastern Indian state on the Burmese border — following the principled chief of a waning tribe, and the arrival of an American missionary. “Angh” won the top prize in the Platform competition at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, thus qualifying it for the Best International Feature Oscar.

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