More than anything else, this film is poetry. Photograph reminds us to believe in minor magic. Here is a film about a city that makes room for everything, from formulaic films to ghosts. Like when posing for a camera, all we need to know is where to look.

Photograph doesn’t come together as beautifully as The Lunchbox did. The screenplay isn’t as sharp or insightful. In places the film is so quiet that it feels inert. I’m not going to lie – I did get impatient. And yet the next morning, I found myself thinking about Rafi and Miloni. There is a tenderness that stays with you.

Regardless of what Photograph achieves in terms of box-office monetary gains, the film, an O’Henrisque story, leaves an idiosyncratic imprint of Mumbai and its quirky tales that we love.

For a picture is a moment, it doesn’t commit, it contains.

It has no past nor future, it is timeless.

That is the beauty of Batra’s delicate little gem.

It is what it would like to remember and not what unfolds.

Rafi tells his customers that it is the sunlight in the Photographs that they will remember long after their visit to the tourist spot. That is true of this film as well. The languid grace and unswerving geniality inherent in the making stand out. They enhance the radiance of the overall cinematic composition and make Photograph a film that will stay etched in our memories awhile.

Photograph isn’t a perfect shot and is lured by exquisite nothingness but it’s intriguing and takes you back in time. Like love and life, it’s uncertain and hopeful.

Photograph, starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Sanya Malhotra attempts to embody themes of longing and nostalgia and leaves you feeling rather wistful at the end, says our movie review. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

The narrative is an assemblage of beautiful events shot with breath-taking lucidity — by cinematographers Tim Gillis and Ben Kutchins. Mumbai beckons hauntingly as the two central characters make this seemingly fleeting tryst last a lot longer than what seems possible in real life. Photograph is the emblematic representation of that connection we seek in these disconnected times. It speaks to us, but not as much in words as in the moments that warm our hearts.

Photograph is a fairly standard Mumbai-set slice of life drama. While there’s humour and pathos, Batra lacks a firm grip on the story and it starts to get away from him midway through the film, making it hard for anyone to really get lost in it. In the end, you can’t help but feel shortchanged.

It is still a sincere enough, easily digestible, curl-up-on-the couch film you wouldn’t mind watching, come the relentless Mumbai monsoon.