At the film's core is a simple premise - the ambition and dreams of glory of a young filmmaker which is tied with extremist elements within the story. However, the manner which is adopted to portray the same is far from simple - it shows the desire to innovate, to experiment, and not be hesitant of stepping out of one's comfort zone.

 In the process, a meta-narrative of sorts is produced which offers political commentary, a plot which is very self-aware and therefore sometimes invokes humor at its own expense and very deliberately so, mixes elements of surrealism with humor and violence, and ties it all together as the completed product of the film. 

 The non-linear narrative takes us into Alka's world and her very devoted attempts to tell a "politically visceral" story. With a hat-tip to Roland Barthes in its title, the film brings all of this, and some more, to life, ensuring that its storytelling and the execution of the plot remain fresh in tonality while, at the same time, engaging and entertaining the viewer throughout.

Ek Film Director Ki Maut | Short Film Nominee

Locating itself during a very pivotal moment in history, the 1947 partition of India, the short film introduces the viewer to the social milieu of the time. Using the same as the hinterland against which the narrative unfolds, the film allows its concerns to achieve a more localised, personal and intimate approach. 

 While at first glance the period drama might seem like the story of the communal tensions and the absolute chaos that ravaged the towns that were close to the soon to be mapped out India-Pakistan border, it is much more than that. It is after this realisation that the film becomes the story of an eccentric and temperamental writer who introduces us to his own stories through the dilemmas and conflicts of the characters in his mind. Their visual representation allows almost an other-worldly, surreal quality to the film. 

 As stories of entire cultures get rewritten by history, portrayed by a film whose title, Ardhviram, or semicolon, is a direct echo of something that does not denote completion in itself, where will the protagonist find himself with respect to the thoughts and experiences that consume him, as well as his personal struggles as a writer?

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