BULBUL CAN SING World Cinema

Bulbul is an independent girl living a typical teenage life in the Assam region of India. She practices her singing, and begins a sweet romance with a boy who wrote her a love poem. She spends most of her time with her two best friends — Bonny, who also has a beau, and Sumu, a boy who is mercilessly teased by other students for his feminine mannerisms, but who Bulbul and Bonny love fiercely. When a cruel shaming by a group of local men balloons into a tragedy, Bulbul learns the price of exploring her awakening desires in a culture that shuns young sexuality. Rima Das’ lyrical and moving third feature captures the beauty of the director’s rural home — suffused with light and the sounds of nature — while telling a story of adolescent love and unfathomable grief, all traced across Bulbul’s quietly expressive face. – Beth Hanna