The film chooses a pimp as its protagonist and provides a unique exploration of the character's lived reality. It does a skillful job of straddling images of domesticity, and a world of prostitution without giving into flippancies or inelegance, a trap a filmmaker might fall into while dealing with a similar subject matter. The narrative further ties in drama with an unexpected and effortless comic element. A man who is engaged with the underbelly of prostitution, also has another existence that involves a loving, devoted wife. The performances are definitely the strongest aspect of the film, supplemented by impeccable chemistry between the two primary actors. Further, the writing endeavours to invoke ideas of guilt and the moral compunctions the protagonist struggles with. The first half of the film is concerned more with introducing us to the characters and their relationships. The second half is marked by the swiftness of its events as things come into their own very quickly, whereas it would have helped to have a more organic pace for the narrative. The first half sets up a high goal for itself, primarily owing to an intelligent premise, but will it be able to achieve it entirely?

Inner City | Short Film of the Day

Sampat and Ajit sit late into the night while the rest of the island celebrates a festival, one that marks the last night before business and trade begin the following morning after a long gap. The brief exchange between the two is sufficient to establish the power dynamic for the viewer clearly. Soon, the night takes a very strange turn when they end up at Sampat’s house, followed by something violent and bloody. 

The subsequent story is marked by its voice, which conjures an intriguing, deeply involving world. The performances support it competently, alongside the endeavor to experiment with its visual grammar as well, even if a little inconsistent briefly. The end result remains true to the film’s tonality and approach throughout, presenting to the audience a dark, gory world of ever-changing power dynamics, the monsters that lurk in the shadows, and those around who enable these monsters.

Island | Short Film Nominee

Blue Funk is not a narrative that would serve its truth to the passive viewer on a platter, ready to be consumed. Stretching itself in the abstract space of metaphors and symbolism, the film demands of you to pay close attention to its visuals, its near-complete absence of dialogues and the several internal conflicts the protagonist might be dealing with as she navigates relationships, and perhaps, ideas pertaining to the self. From melancholia, deep anguish, passionate encounters to finally achieving that moment of complete peace, the film meanders through several experiences and stages in the life of the protagonist. However, it is important to bring one's own understanding to the events that unfold on screen in a story that deliberately withholds explicit communication of its intentions. Simply put, it is a film about the self, identity and its many dynamics, it is about sexuality and the consequences of an otherwise positive, intimate experience gone awry, but above all, it is also about the manner in which the viewer chooses to interpret it all.

Blue Funk | Short Film Nominee

The opening of the short film beguiles the dark, twisted reality of the world it will come to be an engagement with. A couple is headed back home from a party, and when sexuality enters the equation in their after-party moments, the woman is quick to shun all advances by her boyfriend and send him home. He continues to make more advances, but to little avail. When the relationship seems at the brink of its end, the woman shares a disturbing experience she had to undergo recently, explaining her aversion to anything remotely sexual. By constructing the narrative that it does, the short film attempts to do its bit to add to the conversation on gender, sexual assault and the safety of women in public places.

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