“Sound of Silence”, directed by Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran, is a beautiful philosophical movie that takes us into an inner journey with a realization that there are endless unspoken words in silence.
As one of the monks says in the film: “The words we speak are not all-important. What is important is to hear the unspoken words. When silence conceals words, one must regard silence more. Words flow into a small river, but silence flows into the vast ocean.”
A documentary-style movie, set in the Himalayan valley, the film’s storyline follows a mute boy whose father is an alcoholic and often blames the boy for his mother’s death. As the father commits a crime and is sent to jail, a Buddhist monk takes the boy into a monastery where he must gain strength and surpass his suffering.
First of all, you need peace of mind to watch the film. If you like deep philosophical movies, which we very rarely watch these days, “Sound of Silence” is a must-watch. The film is one of such films that pushes us into spiritualism to understand the ultimate purpose of our lives.
"Sound of Silence" documents the journey of an abandoned mute boy in a remote Himalayan village where he joins a monastery to find solace with the teachings of Lord Buddha. Share on XWith a state of calmness or tranquility, “Sound of Silence” shows us the loneliness of the boy who later finds peace in the teachings of Gautama Buddha. We see glimpses of life in a monastery and few key fundamental beliefs in the religion.
In the film, we get to hear to one of the monks who explains that there is no concept of one’s home after joining the monastery. For them the entire universe is home and all the living beings are related to us.
In Buddhism, people deeply believe that in order to overcome sorrow and suffering, we need to overcome desires and attachments. As in Lord Buddha’s teaching, also mentioned in the film:
‘You should be an island onto yourself. You should not depend upon anyone or anything. Then you will never drown in the waters of sorrow and disappointment.’
Watch the movie trailer for “Sound of Silence“
“Sound of Silence” was premiered at the 2017 Montreal World Film Festival followed by several festival screening. The film won an award for Best Director at the 2017 Kolkata International Film Festival in the Indian Film Competition category.
Director: Dr. Bijukumar Damodaran
Starring: Master Govardhan, Uday Chandra, Bhushan
Genres: Drama
Audio Language: Hindi
Release Date/Year: 2017
