Mango Dreams (2016) ***

When a Sikh-born widower doctor, Amit (Ram Gopal Bajaj), realises that he is suffering from increasing dementia he heads off in search of past memories before they disappear from his mind. Unusually, impractically, he recruits a Muslim tuk-tuk driver, Salim (Pankaj Tripathi), to accompany him on his odyssey, which will take him to his old medical school in Jaipur, the railway tracks in Amritsar and finally, he hopes, to the village where he was born. Gradually the tragic life stories of both doctor and driver are revealed, both blighted by the bloody aftermath of Partition, and ongoing hatred between Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus. The initial pace of John Upchurch’s film (available on Netflix) is extremely sedate, but it is worthwhile persevering as slowly but surely one is drawn into a powerful human drama, at times lyrically told. By the end one is likely to be emotionally involved, as the terrible impact of ethnic and religious rivalry sinks in. This is one, poignant personal story but symbolic of something much larger, troubling and profound.