Amu begins as a quaint little film about an Indian-American young adult who goes back to Delhi in hopes of remembering something from her youth – before her adoption. The first act is sweet and patient – a mix of encounters with warming nostalgia and discomforting almost memories. The music blends more modern not-necessarily Indian passages with more traditional cultural tunes.

But soon enough the young woman stumbles onto a tragic truth that leads to a mystery that she cannot turn away from. And the film becomes her journey into the painful memories of friends and family as well. While, the picture is intriguing and the characters deserving of empathy, the momentum drags at around midway. Nor do the performances ever quite break through. However, the film does bring to light yet another horrible chapter in humanity’s struggle for tolerance. An earlier echo of the large scale killings such that Darfur is now suffering. Amu feels like a call to justice, but finds little. Perhaps a warning.

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