‘Tabula Rasa’ is marked by a very singular voice when it comes to storytelling. The story it shares is pronounced in the title itself, the idea of a blank slate. However, what goes on the slate makes all the difference. 

A family of four battles financial instability, and the tribulations that follow in its wake. Amidst it all, the sound of a television set remains a constant companion for the children as well as their disgruntled father. The mindless, mute consumption of everything that it offers influences their lives in an unalterable and irreversible manner. 

The film, thus, also offers social commentary and the many ways society can be molded by the lies and illusions we are peddled on screen and in media. Violence, accidents, loss, and tragedy become inadvertent components of this reality, and the film presents a competent endeavor to explore the same.

Tabula Rasa | Short Film of the Month

If infidelity chooses to wriggle its way in between partners, it sometimes refuses to leave without causing a permanent change in the dynamics. While some may recover from the setback, for others it becomes the third component of their equation which is now changed in an irreversible manner. The short film pivots itself on the same premise and takes the viewer into one such instance. The plot, modelled on the short story The Suit by South African writer Can Themba, portrays how, when a husband catches his cheating wife red-handed, he refuses to express his dismay in any form of an emotional outburst. Instead, the infidelity takes the form of a perpetual presence in their marriage, quite literally. Additionally, while the parent text preoccupies itself with issues of race, the short film, comes to be associated with a class struggle between the members of the working class and those of the Indian upper-middle class. Though a little more fine-tuning of the overall product would have helped it to be more than what it already is, also an aspect that the team can gain from in their future projects, Haazri still exhibits an undeniable stillness and gravity of thought and approach that works notably to its advantage.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links