This short film by Pia Shah is the most endearing take on a child's fear of water. Backed by a notable background score, Waterbaby takes the viewer into the life of young Melvin with his pregnant mother and neglectful father. <br><br> While navigating the metaphorical waters of peer pressure and familial conflict, he finds himself smitten with a new classmate one day. She invites him for a pool party on her birthday and all Melvin can resort to are the lessons he's learnt from Boy Aqua, an animated show he watches regularly. As he stands before a swimming pool in front of school bullies, all his friends and the object of his affection, will Melvin take the plunge? 

Waterbaby | Short Film of the Day

The short film introduces the viewer to a queer woman and the manner in which her sexuality has come to define both her private and professional life. The title, in the process, becomes a clear assertion of the hope of attaining a regular life milestone, but one which the normative order of society threatens to deny her. <br><br> A photographer by profession, Monisha Ajgaonkar is at her candid best as she allows her most vulnerable moments to unfold before the lens, lending the film a notable poignancy. It would have, however, been interesting and more enriching for the film to have explored it further. On the whole, it remains a resounding story, marked by a skilled visual narrative, about an experience all too common in a world that still continues to silence or push aside any gender or sexual identity that endeavours to break away from heteronormativity. In such a scenario, the film does its bit to start and encourage an important conversation.

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