Padmini My Love

‘Padmini My Love’ emerges from a recently issued government order in Mumbai, which reduced the age limit of the iconic black-and-yellow Padmini taxis to a maximum of 20 years. What this means is that, in a few years from now, the charming-yet-robust Padmini taxi will have vanished from the streets of Mumbai, taking away with it the livelihoods of many who depend on it for their day-to-day survival. The film explores the various ways in which the government-imposed age limit affects the livelihoods of the taxi drivers on the one hand, and shatters a peripheral economy around the taxi, on the other. The four protagonists of the film – Ravindranath, Tareef, Ansari and AL Quadros – talk about issues of migrant labour, the status of taxi drivers and the importance of taxis in the city of Mumbai, through their own personal narratives, thereby offering a ringside view of the changing city and its invisibilized workers.

Director

Padmini My Love