Brief Explanation

This film has been scripted with the real last words of thousands of terminally ill patients as heard by 200 nurses across India, over a cumulative 2,000 + years of nursing service. Close ups of real nurses recounting real last words form the film. The film starts with shots of the nurses laughing. Each nurse then narrates one set of last words that moved her deeply but the stories are depicted non-linearly, moving from one nurse to the next and back, using the narrative to build on the emotion, till the laugher subsides, the smiles fade, the eyes get teary and one nurse finally breaks down with the last words “Have you ever seen anyone die?” The supers then reveal the simple fact that most last words are heard by nurses and not family, in order to bring alive the need to opt for palliative care.

Execution

This film brought alive the real last words of terminally ill patients as heard by more than 200 nurses across India. When we experienced the raw power of the real last words, we realised the direction had to be minimalistic. In fact, once the nurses started sharing their experiences, we realised the process was cathartic for them, releasing their pent-up emotions. So the film directed itself, with the role of direction being only to make them comfortable and capture their emotions. Simultaneously, care was taken to portray them as ordinary people who were just as deeply touched by death as any of us. Since the film required extreme close-ups of real nurses and not professional actors, capturing these emotions was no small task. Put together in a non-linear narrative style, last words packed an emotional punch that gave a new direction to the way palliative care would be viewed.