Looking back on Valentine's Day over the years, you realise we have celebrated singlehood, female companionships, pets, so on and so forth. Just when you thought there's nothing new that can be added to the list, a short film arrived with the most relevant and wonderful message. This V-Day, let's celebrate women who make the first move. Making a strong comment on gender dynamics, Old Fashioned Love, is about a conversation between a bartender and a man sketching by himself. The first reaction for many viewers can be of surprise - to see a woman behind the bar in India, and that is perhaps another comment that the film makes. The conversation between them is intelligently written. The narrative is simple and engaging and concludes with a powerful ending.

Old Fashioned Love | Short Film of the Day

It's comforting to see more and more voices join the conversation around choice. When it comes to a woman's attire, everyone seems to have an opinion which they would enthusiastically share with the world without the slightest request. In such a scenario, when two women sit down to have a calm conversation about their idea of dressing, it's indeed a refreshing change. No matter where you find yourself on the spectrum of covering up your body, you will definitely find something in the video to agree with. The idea behind it is simple, but powerful like strong narratives should be. It's well-argued, well-scripted and well-performed. So, when a young actor in her ripped jeans meets an English Literature professor in a burqa at a bus stop, whose ideology would echo with you more?

Marzi | Short Film of the Day

The short film is essentially a conversation between two women who sit across each other as equals in a static, wide frame that serves to further accentuate this equality. However once you enter the universe of the film, you realise that they are far from being equals, separated from each other on the basis of their social location. Yet the two have managed to achieve a common plane as married women. Delivery Girl is an exploration of internalised patriarchy and how sometimes the biggest instruments of it are women themselves. It further draws attention to the fact that women are not the only victims of it, but men too suffer under a patriarchal set-up. Additionally, it reminds the viewer that gender equality is not an ideology to be believed in as long it's convenient to do so. The two women, played convincingly by Vaibhavi Upadhyay and Krutika Deo, communicate all of this to the viewer through a single conversation. However, despite being written beautifully and effortlessly, the predictability of the plot becomes a weakness of the film.

Delivery Girl  | Short Film of the Day

On 10th January, 2017, Gudiya was abducted to never return home. What soon followed came to be known as the Kathua rape, an act so vile and brutal that it shook the conscience of the nation. However, a year later, as the headlines of violence against women continue to flow, what has truly changed, or so asks this short film. It sews together a series of linked visuals to draw attention to incidents of brutal acts committed against women in India in the recent past. This is made more disconcerting by the voiceover which is done by a child's scared voice. From Gudiya to Nirbhaya, from the fear of walking down a dark street or sitting alone in a cab to a mother's hesitation to send her daughter to school - the cycle simply stays in motion. As the news lingers in our head, the fear gets carried over to the new year, leaving us with the question - akhir iss naye saal mei naya kya hai?

Kathua’s Gudiya | Short Film of the Day

A Christmas Carol is a story of one afternoon and a conversation between a dejected man and a cheerfully unconcerned boy. The former has had a rough day and is in no mood for the boy's chatter. The latter, on the other hand, is unstoppable in sharing his love for dance and his approach to life. The story is notably well-written and is beautiful in its simplicity. As the two exchange their dreams and stories, a sense of hope and perseverance is invoked which is perhaps all the Christmas cheer one needs this festive season. The film is heartwarming, innocent and goes to show the importance of good narratives in determining a film's success.

A Christmas Carol | Short Film of the Day

It's a Sunday afternoon while a mom impatiently awaits her daughter's return. She is edgy when the daughter finally arrives. Isha, the daughter, is also visibly distressed and immediately the viewer is informed that there is indeed a deeper narrative developing in the story. Khilaaf is a short film which explores the mother-daughter dynamics, a relation between two women who have faced a tragedy together and the manner in which their entire relationship has been moulded and transformed by it. At its conclusion, the film has a relevant message about love, loss and the inevitable forward progression of life.

Khilaaf | Short Film of the Day

The video is a montage of different women against the recitation of a poem about a dancer's feet and what it means to be a woman in this world. Released on the occasion of International Dance Day, it's a reminder of the various ways in which a woman finds herself moving between failure, rejection, condescension and dismissal by society. While the video sews together simple but lovely visuals, it still does not match up to Culture Machine's other productions on gender and related topics. It celebrates dance and women and the manner in which art empowers, but there is nothing extraordinary about the writing or the voiceover that will stay with the viewer.

My Dear Aching Feet | Short Film of the Day

We as a society are obsessed with placing everything in neatly cut categories with its fixed attributes. One of the worst outcomes of this has been with regards to gender. The short film by Culture Machine discusses the same concern - pressures of being a woman, whether you subscribe to gender norms or not. Society's expectations are such that no matter which side of the spectrum you're on, there's still a need to conform. The reason behind this, as the film itself points out, is that people fear what they don't understand. Here's a well-intentioned attempt to change that.

Ladko Jaisi | Short Film of the Day

The short film attempts several things, but falls short of the mark. Though the premise holds potential, two former lovers meeting after a long time since their parting, it is not truly realised. Ek Aur Chai is marked by mawkish writing, tacky background score and an overall disappointing handling of the story that could have seen better execution. The notable things about it are the strong performances of the protagonists and the expert cinematography. However both seem wasted in this overly sentimental film which, in a way, is also promoting the dysfunctionality of romantic equations. A boy who has been trying to move on for two years finally finds the closure he has been looking for. Just when the viewer begins to feel satisfied on his behalf, a text from the same former lover elicits such broad grins in him that you cannot help, but wonder at the futility of routing for him in the first place. The film also offers a convincing portrayal of a young woman who chose to move to a different city for a dream job even if it meant walking away from a near-perfect romance. She defends her choice in no unequivocal terms and that aspect of her personality is laudable. In the end, however, the dichotomy is suddenly presented to the viewer - a choice between love and career which, again, fails to convey its point, since just in the previous second the protagonists are shown discussing their career in a manner that involves working it out around their relationship, not without it. All in all, the film turns out to be an underwhelming product.

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