Printed Rainbow

Year : 2006
Type : Animation
Director : Gitanjali Rao

Printed Rainbow is an animated short film by Gitanjali Rao, a gold medalist from Sir JJ Institute of Applied Art, Mumbai. The film has a very simple story, that of an elderly woman who lives in a small apartment of a residential-complex in a big city with her cat. Her life is very monotonous and to say the least without any joy and excitement, as is the life of senior citizens in big cities. Her only escape from the real world is her collection of match boxes each of which has a picture of a very colorful world. She sitting on her arm chair escapes into this imaginary world where she fulfills her crave for excitement and happiness such as walking into a palace, floating with a boat in a river inside the forest, or driving a truck and overtaking all others on the road.

The story of Printed Rainbow has a very strong universal appeal cross-cutting cultural boundaries and beatifully portrays the difficulties of elderly people in a metropolitan lifestyle. The life in the apartment is shown in black and white animated sketches showing the dullness and the other imaginary world which is full with adventure and happiness is shown in bright beautiful colors which conveys the mood of the story very strongly without uttering a single word.

The movie also made me very nostalgic and reminded me of this childhood pre-occupation I had of collecting the front picture of matchstick boxes, often competing among friends of the most exclusive collection one had. It flooded me with pleasant memories of those "Sivakasi" brand match boxes and my friends who were lost in my old memories.

Printed Rainbow saw her become the only Indian to win three awards at the Cannes Critics' Week Section and win awesome reviews and acclaim worldwide. A very beautiful work of art, one must see.