Documentary film by Saba Rehman
Date: 10 April 2015
Venue: IHC

It’s not the pimples, but the ‘F’ word that teenagers are afraid of these days. Not just teenagers, almost everybody these days wants to get rid of their body fat, in fact, people who are not even fat dread the F word. BMI, Zumba, protein shakes, and Pilates have become the conversation topic at parties these days.

Surrounding this issue, Saba Rehman directed (and enacted and edited) a documentary about her personal journey where she decides to take control of her body and self-image by taking steps towards a healthier lifestyle. It’s a bold step – losing weight on record – that too in partnership with Doordarshan.

Image credits: Saba Rehman

Her intelligence and honesty reflects in every frame of the feature. She effortlessly stayed away from making it a “Fat to Fit” inspirational story. And thankfully she is not out to give tips on weight loss or mention the benefits of that. She leaves the audience thinking about her agenda in the documentary and anybody can interpret it his/her own way. She has taken the help of stop motion animation to keep the documentary lively and aesthetic. The path to weight loss, though a personal journey, involves others in a person’s life. She included others take on her weight loss by interviewing her close friends and family and an aborted effort of interviewing herself.

As she progressed in her journey of weight loss, it is evident that she was getting serious about the weight loss and the documentary. While some of the earlier shots are amateurish, towards the end one realizes that she has progressed as a filmmaker too. What we liked is that she managed to lose 5 kg in a month without making it the “be-all and end-all” of her world. The editing was also excellent and every minute of the film had something to convey.

Saba was available for questions after the screening and it was evident that she is way bigger than her weight or weight loss.

Also Read: The man who dwarfed the mountains – Habitat Film Festival