Wendy Bednarz’ Yellow Bus is the first UAE film in TIFF history, and it shows an unnamed country’s flaws. The Gulf has some countries that, just like ours, have multicultural cities, and people who don’t have Arabic heritage eventually get rights there. That’s true when it comes to Anju, a girl with Indian heritage born in the country, but her rights have limits. Those limits come out when she accidentally dies inside a bus. Thankfully, she has her mother, Ananda (Tannishtha Chatterjee), fighting for her.
TIFF, thankfully, didn’t just select this film for its commentary on the macro politics in the UAE. It also touches on the personal side, as every character blames each other and themselves for Anju’s death. One of those allegedly guilty parties is Ravina, Anju’s sister who says she told the attendant that Anju is sleeping at the back of the bus. Ravina becomes close to the school’s principal, Mrs. Al-Numan (Kinda Alloush), who hides the bad decision that lead to Anju’s accidental death.
Yellow Bus choice to make Mrs. Al-Numan and Ravina friends make sense since Ananda is playing detective, investigating Anju’s death. Ananda is this movie’s worst and best asset, as her behaviour gets messier by the minute. The movie gets less watchable as she makes decisions worse than the people she’s pointing her beleaguered fingers at. In fairness though, I did crazy things after my mother died. I went back and forth on this film. Unfortunately, this is too messy for me.
- Rated: NR
- Genre: Drama
- Release Date: 9/10/2023
- Directed by: Wendy Bednarz
- Starring: Kinda Alloush, Tannishtha Chatterjee
- Produced by: Nadia Eliewat
- Written by: Wendy Bednarz
