‘Mercy’ review: Film on euthanasia is barely alive

Mercy explores that horrible choice many have faced at some point in their lives: whether or not to pull the plug on a comatose parent.

The brothers Shekhar (Raj Vasudeva) and Vihaan (Kunal Bhan) are divided over the fate of their ailing mother Sujata (Aparna Ghoshal). Sujata is lying on a hospital bed with only a beating heart to indicate that she is still alive.

Despite mounting medical bills, Shekhar wants to keep Sujata going. Vihaan wants to end his mother’s misery. Shekhar’s pregnant wife Jiya (Niharica Raizada) is on Vihaan’s side. Mitul Patel’s Hindi-language Mercy examines the ethical quandary associated with euthanasia mostly from Shekhar’s perspective.

Mercy is one of those low-budget, Rotary Club-worthy films that is noteworthy only for its topicality. The bareness across the scripting, performance and production design departments doesn’t do justice to an important subject, especially in India. Anu Menon’s Waiting (2015), about two people who meet in a hospital while attending to their respective comatose spouses, is among the full-bodied examples of how to deal with the anguish and dilemmas involving in letting go of loved ones.

Shekhar’s Christian beliefs, which brings in a priest played by Adil Hussain, is an underexplored aspect of the screenplay. Raj Vasudeva has the bulk of the scenes...

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