The film is a quiet rumination on aging, the passage of time, and standing still as you watch the world change before your eyes and continue with its inexorable march. All of this is explored by the lament of a protagonist played most adroitly and skilfully by Naseeruddin Shah, who observes it all from his window. 

After having lived a life of hard work, one which even kept him from spending time with his son, his circumstance has slowed down now, leaving him only with this window and his thoughts for companionship. As he eschews modern technology, smartphones, and virtual contact, instead longing for more meaningful and intimate human interaction, the film comes into being. 

The narrative is constructed gingerly, bolstered by beautiful visuals, and supplementary colors that further invoke warmth and an intrinsic poignancy. The protagonist, and in turn, the film, however, is not marked by bitterness. Instead, only a lament on separation, on things changing too swiftly in their unalterable course, defines it. 

 There is an acceptance of this condition, but not devoid of sadness. A man’s relationship with his house, a space that stands for a life lived fully, complete with its losses and grief, as well as nostalgia, memory, and even strength, thus becomes the overarching force in the film. The narrative takes the form of a story of the old being replaced by the new, echoing the idea that while a life might end, the world continues to move forth, each individual going about their day as always.

Khidki | Short Film Nominee

The scene is of a dark night when a man is in a hurry to get to his native village which he left a decade ago. The reason for the rushed trip, making him drive into the lateness of the hour, is to sell an ancestral property. After finally having secured a buyer, this is perhaps a narrow window to get the property off his hands, explaining the urgency to get there in time. Now that the premise of the film is in place, it allows itself to play with darkness, concealing more than it reveals, using shadows and sounds to conjure an eerie atmosphere for the viewer. It's biggest tool to invoke an element of horror is simply a voice, an unhappy, enraged voice, and owing to the manner in which the narrative is weaved, that turns out to be more than sufficient.

Navigator | Short Film of the Day

The title of the film establishes a sense of cyclicality and the inability to break out of it as its primary theme. The preoccupation is then explored by the actions of the characters, each in a fix of their own. It begins with a man stranded in the middle of a desolate highway which is infamous for robberies. He soon manages to hitch a ride, but is his helper truly a good Samaritan? The film offers all its intentions in the revelations pertaining to the true identity of its many characters. The twists stand to gain a little from nuance, but on the other hand, offer lucidity in terms of the message the film has set out to share.

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