Director Asif Kapadia Makes a Visually Stunning Feature Debut
By Rachel Astarte Piccione

Asif Kapadia's first feature film is the heroic tale of a man turning from a life of violence to face solitude in the wilderness. At first, the story may sound similar to a Hollywood Western or a Japanese samurai epic. Although the setting of Kapadia's film is the harsh frontiers of Northwestern India, the soul of the story is the same. Director and co-writer Kapadia was heavily influenced by these enduring genres and their distinctive visual richness. All of this, and more, is evident in "The Warrior."

Irfan Khan plays the role of Lafcadia, a Rajput warrior devoted to serving the cruel local lord (Apunam Shyam). Many of Lafcadia's tasks, along with the other warriors with whom he serves, involve punishing villagers by beheading them or even raiding and pillaging entire communities. It is during one of these raids that Lafcadia has an epiphany. As he instinctively thrusts his sword at a figure that has come up behind him, he sees not a threatening man, but a little girl. Further, she is wearing his son Katiba's (Puru Chhibber) pendant which, unbeknownst to Lafcadia, the boy had given to her earlier as a gift. Moved by this image of transference -- son to girl, life to life -- Lafcadia receives a vision of the ice-capped mountains of his native home. He drops his sword, collects his son and heads on a homeward journey. Unfortunately, his desire for peace is cut short when the remaining warriors are sent to hunt down Lafcadia and kill him.

"The Warrior" is a marvelous adventure that possesses what every good film does: cinematic images that are symbols of how we live when we finally accept our true nature. Both literally and metaphorically, we experience through Lafcadia the anguish of losing as well as the celebration in gaining. As with any hero quest, there is a running away and a running toward, a departure and homecoming. "Lafcadia lives in a violent world," Kapadia says, "but on his journey he seeks the strength to turn his life around -- to become a much better person and, in a sense, a better father."

The production was a huge undertaking for a first-time director, filming in the sweltering Rajasthan Desert as well as the frigid Himalayan region of Himachal Pradesh. Despite these challenges, Asif Kapadia did justice to his passion for this story. "The Warrior" is essentially an 88-minute visual poem that shares one human being's inward journey set against the backdrop of the outward world's vast and sometimes terrifying beauty. It's a journey that traverses genres and cultures to awaken the hero in each of us.