The film presents an interesting overlap of the digital space with filmmaking. It positions two characters on the same plane - Simran, an aspiring actor on the sets of a film that has the power to launch her career, and Pia, a social media figure whose star is on a meteoric rise, and who works as an intimacy coordinator on the same film. 

Between the two stands Akaash who has helped Simran land this role in the first place. The choice of characters and the interpersonal equations the plot brings to life all present a dynamic array. The storytelling is further defined by an unmissable voice that engages with ideas of ambition and the insecurity that can often follow in its wake. 

Notwithstanding a little looseness in the screenplay, the final result is put together with thoughtfulness. The tonality evidences skill and the promise of further exploration of the themes and relationships thus presented in the film.

The First Break | Spotlight

The film opens on a seemingly mundane note, suggesting that it’s going to take us into a day in the life of the protagonist. However, as the story progresses, we realize this is anything but an ordinary day. It is the only day of its kind in decades, the plot underlines, while also conjuring a sense of the past alongside an emotional goodbye. All of this comes to pivot on a simple act of a character, the fifty-year-old protagonist himself — the act of making a cup of tea. 

While he may have owned a tea factory for decades, this is the first time he is making himself a cup. The act further marks an important evening. The screenplay is constructed with care, and the poignancy it evokes offers a single heartfelt moment. The film weaves all of it together, alongside a notable performance by its sole performer, to present a creative endeavor that not only exhibits potential and vision in terms of storytelling but also leaves one with the prospect of more such endeavors with a similar approach.

The Tea Factory | Spotlight

Two strangers strike an unlikely bond when they are pushed together into a circumstance in an even more unlikely manner. A pickpocket is entrapped by a young woman, also his greatest admirer, into teaching her what she views as his art and skill. 
Through the misadventures of the two, confined to a single night, the film presents a story that is marked by the devotion of its cast, a notable visual approach, and editing choices, alongside an equally complementary background score. The film remains true to its stylistic choices throughout, and though not entirely devoid of a few rough edges, the voice and storytelling exhibit not only deep potential but also freshness. 

While a pursuit that is as isolating as pickpocketing and theft is viewed as art by one, it simply remains an act of survival for the other. However, an unexpected moment of companionship is nestled within the many layers of the heist and the action that unfold before the viewer. The narrative does a sincere, meticulous job of achieving and portraying this moment.

The First Time They Spoke | Spotlight

Two men, employees at the local hospital, have arrived in a new town for work with their respective day and night shifts. Their living quarters have already been allotted, and they have little say in the matter, even when the strangest occurrences begin. 

The house is dusty with bad wiring and flickering lights. For one of them, who is more inclined towards astrology and a belief in the supernatural, the house seems like the perfect setting for a haunting. Additionally, the quarter has a dark history and a brutal past that includes a woman and her baby. It is in this manner that the decrepit house with its old, forgotten objects, attains a life of its own when nights become plagued with singing in a woman’s voice. 

The background score, screenplay and visual grammar construct an eerie world with seamlessness and skill. At the same time, the writing explores the many forms fear can take, and what it eventually comes to mean for both of our characters. All of these components ensure that the story is realized with impact, and that the end result conveys the film’s core message expertly, and with clarity.

Pallavi Ammal | Spotlight

The film is not easy to watch because of the hard-hitting subject matter it engages with. However, it ties this engagement with a brutality that not only forces the viewer to not look away but also sit up and pay closer attention. Right from the opening scene, a world of gender inequality is established where a woman officer has to fight battles that a man in her position would never have to. In addition to the battles at home in her marriage, she has to put up with the harassment of a male colleague, finding just as strong and relentless adversaries in the life outside of the home as well. 

The narrative ropes in notable musical choices to build its drama by the entry of a second woman, one who presents a powerful monologue and lays bare the many ways society exploits, harasses, and casually dishes out cruelty to women. The comments it makes are lucid and straightforward and manage to communicate all of the film’s intentions, especially by way of powerful performances.

Dhwani | Spotlight

Thorny plants, peeling walls, and some other dying corners of a house establish the tone of the film for the viewer. A sick man lies bedridden when he is visited by a concerned, panicked well-wisher. The man instead focuses on a plant called Junie, and continues to dismiss the entrant’s anxiety. As the story proceeds, a world marked by chronic illness, loss, grief, and immense tragedy is invoked by the viewer. 
The screenplay and performances remain tightly intertwined as one to bring forth an expert end result. The emotional spectrum is achieved with skill, offering the viewer a glimpse into relationships and familial bonds that are messy and overburdened with all kinds of complexities, and yet, they remain the most unexpected as well as powerful source of comfort.

Junie | Spotlight

The documentary takes us into the first-hand experience of Vansh Pandita, a Kashmiri Pandit, who returns to his ancestral village for the first time since his family left it in 1990. The subsequent narrative that comes to life is heartfelt and marked by earnestness. It is weaved with care and emotion and exhibits notable potential in terms of storytelling and portraying the world based on the protagonist’s interactions with it. 
The journey commences to usher in crucial perspectives about what it means to leave a home behind, and the deep scars that follow, some of which perhaps can never heal. At the same time, a sense of indomitable hope for a better future, one marked by newer, younger voices, and their dreams and aspirations, never truly leaves the film. All of these together ensure meaningfulness and sincerity in the endeavor, one that paves the path for many more to come.

Meen-mul | Spotlight

It is late into the night when a woman opens her house to an unexpected guest, a man who is wondering if she could serve him some food. As a hesitant Indu allows him into her small dhaba, the narrative deliberately perplexes the viewer as to why a sheep would willingly let the wolf deeper and deeper beyond the threshold. With Indu’s husband gone to the nearby city and no children in the marriage, she is completely alone and at the mercy of the man's malicious intentions. 

The film, borrowing its name from the iconic Hindi song that the protagonist hums, portrays all of this with notable performances, alongside the clear intent, and desire to experiment with its visual grammar. The end result succeeds in creating a sense of poetic justice, while also drawing upon the elements of thrill and horror. Additionally, it subverts the idea of who is a victim and who they victimize, paving the path for more similar storytelling endeavors in the future.

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