Movie: Shorts
Directors: Shlok Sharma, Siddharth Gupt, Anirban Roy, Rohit Pandey and Neeraj Ghaywan
Cast: Huma Qureshi, Satya Anand, Aditya Kumar, Richa Chadha, Arjun Srivastava, Murari Kumar, Preeti Singh, Shankar Debnath, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Aditi Khanna, Vineet Singh and Ratnabali Bhattacharjee
Rating: ****
Here are five unfamiliar filmmakers, who if go on to make feature films, for sure will change the way cinema is being made in our country, at least in Bollywood. “Shorts” features five short films that are so vaguely different from one another that you might either love it or easily label it as a bizarre experiment.
These are films that are more realistic than Bollywood has ever been in its lifetime, which is a refreshing change. Even though these films may not appeal to hardcore Bollywood fanatics, it would be unfair not to respect the effort of this crop of indie filmmakers.
“Sujata”: Features Huma Qureshi in the titular role of a victim of abuse at the hands of her cousin brother. Playing a de-glam role, we see Huma in her career best performance. Director Shlok Sharma addresses one of the most common domestic issues with clarity, conviction and sensibility.
It might be a common household problem, but seldom have we seen such topic being brought forth on the big screen. This disturbing yet highly powerful short film makes up for a brilliant start to the film. But, Huma and Satya win hands down with their strong performances.
“Epilogue”: A story featuring three characters – one woman and two men – is about the fag end of a dying relationship. Starring Richa Chaddha and Arjun Shrivastav, “Epilogue” is the weirdest short film of the lot and yet has reasons to make you want to like it.
Even though story wise this short is acceptable, its use of too many close-up shorts becomes little unbearable, considering this format is new to the audiences. Richa makes this slightly long short laudable with her performance.
“Audacity”: You will instantly connect with this short by Anirban Roy because its story is so akin to our lives. I say akin since majority of us would’ve been in similar situation as young Preeti Singh growing up.
It’s a simple story of a young, audacious girl’s conflict with her father owing to the loud music she likes. An idiosyncratic Bengali short, this one highlights the result of a clash between a young girl and her authoritative father. The result is what we get to take home and mull over.
Preeti Singh’s brilliant performance makes this short definitely the best of the anthology.
“Mehfuz”: It’s Nawazuddin again at his best, doing what he does the best. Siddiqui as an undertaker, who spends his time talking to dead bodies, makes this short with almost no dialogues, an endearing watch.
He plays a character that has never seen a woman, and when he happens to see one, his instant reactions are affecting. Directed by Rohit Pandey and also starring Aditi Khanna, “Mehfuz” stands out due to the impeccable performance of Nawazuddin.
The last short titled “Shor” gives you a peek into the life of a struggling migrant in Mumbai. Featuring Ratnabali as Meena, this short film is about a middle-class working woman, whose dreams are torn between a jobless husband and acid-tongued mother-in-law. This is also a story of a couple trying to keep their marriage together.
To brand “Shorts” as an Anurag Kashyap film is like not giving the due respect to the five filmmakers and the bunch of actors. No doubt Anurag has taken the effort to bring out the film, but it’s collaborative effort and it needs to be acknowledged that way.