A man forgets. A family chooses to forget. And somewhere between these two cruelties, a story unfolds.
Vanvaas, now streaming on ZEE5 Global, is not loud and does not demand attention. It simply holds up a fragile truth — the kind of truth most families prefer to avoid.
Set against the timeless ghats of Varanasi, it quietly asks a question that stays long after the credits roll — What happens when home stops feeling like home?
Nana Patekar’s Deepak isn’t simply grappling with dementia. He is grappling with erasure — first from his own memory, and then from the lives of his sons who leave him behind.
There’s something deeply unsettling in how ordinary this act feels. No screaming, no final goodbyes. Just a man, old and confused, abandoned because he is inconvenient.
But in that abandonment lies the entire weight of the film. And then, there’s Veeru, a petty thief, played by Utkarsh Sharma, who sees Deepak as an easy target. But life rarely plays by a set plan. As the two share a reluctant companionship, something slowly changes.
Vanvaas is the story of two people, discarded for different reasons, who ultimately find something resembling a home in each other
The brilliance of Vanvaas lies in its restraint. It doesn’t offer easy answers or forced resolutions. Instead, it lingers in the uncomfortable silences. The kind where hurt festers, but healing quietly slips in. It asks us to confront the kind of abandonment that is often invisible. Not the dramatic kind, but the slow, steady distancing we see in real life.
The neglect of an aging parent or the sidelining of someone who no longer fits the picture-perfect version of family. Director Anil Sharma lets the characters breathe, even when the world around them refuses to. And in those moments, the film becomes something more — a reflection. One that might remind you of the faces you’ve grown distant from. The calls you’ve postponed or the people you’ve stopped seeing. The film does not shy away from showing the harsh realities of abandonment, but it also reminds us of the power of compassion.
Vanvaas holds up a lens to something deeply personal yet universally relatable — the need to be seen. And in doing so, it leaves viewers with questions. How do we measure the worth of a person? Where does duty end, and love begin? And perhaps most poignantly — who is family, really?
