by Imtiaz Popat
Eisha’s Marjara‘s short documentary Am I the skinniest person you have ever seen? deals multiple barriers in trying to fit in a perfect world. Eisha and her sister Seema were more than just sisters, they were soul mates; and one summer, a joint diet offers them a shared sense of purpose.
But their carefree project would take a dark turn, pushing Eisha to the very brink of death. Consumed by anorexia, she found herself battling her own fragile body—stranded between childhood and adulthood. Dealing with being and chunky Punjabi Girl and in a predominant white society trying to be accepted in the world influenced by Hollywood and Bollywood.
Decades later, she revisits her past in an exquisitely crafted work of auto-ethnography, evoking her unusual youth with aching lyricism. In addressing a tender love letter to the troubled girl she once was, she reaches contemporary audiences with a timely reflection on body image, racism and self-acceptance.
She found some comfort in images of Bollywood startles with a promise of brown women can be a dream girl. She explored that in her in her most recent feature film Calorie and also in he earlier award winning film Desperately Seeking Helen where she goes on a search no her Bollywood dancing Queen.
Am I the skinniest person you have ever seen? will be screen with Sisters by Ying Wang at at Pacific Cinematheque at 1130 Howe Street in Vancouver as a part of of Mad Pride Festival on Sunday July 16th at 12:30 pm.
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