When two strangers, completely opposite of each other, meet as a result of a chance encounter, new realisations and a fresh awareness of the self awaits the protagonist. Nidhi is a busy woman who runs her own cafe along a hilly road. One day, a vagrant biker, Samarth, arrives at the bistro. Impressed by the special chai, he ends up writing a little note to the chef, and thus begins their story, confined simply to handwritten notes. Through their conversation, a discussion about desires as well as the way someone chooses to live their life is invoked, leading Nidhi to understand something about her choices she perhaps had never understood before. The film is mellow and soft, and maintains the same tone throughout, first introducing the viewer to Nidhi's world, and then locating her within the several rejected and denied desires that constitute it. However, now that someone may have given her a glimpse of another way of life, is an unknown sense of happiness around the corner for her?

Chef's Special | Short Film Nominee

The short film introduces the viewer to Rohan, a teenager who shares the house with his younger sister, brother and his wife. However, familial tensions and stressors are rife in this set-up, isolating Rohan further who also battles the grief of his parents' passing at the same time. As the narrative reveals different aspects of his life, problems of heartache are further invoked. Simultaneously, a parallel narrative about abject poverty is developing, portraying for the viewer the difficult life of a daily labourer. The hapless man is endeavoring to put together a meagre sum of one thousand rupees for urgent medical aid of his infant daughter. Through all of these characters and their experiences, the short film wants to remind the viewer of those who are battling huge obstacles, further drawing their attention, perhaps even at the cost of the oversimplification of the nature of pain or sadness, to strive to find happiness in whatever little they might already have or be blessed with.

Aarohana | Short Film Nominee

The short film has philosophical motivations at its core and tries to portray the same without using any dialogues. It also wants to question who is truly considered 'mad' in a society that is fixated on its material pleasures and financial gains, and is thus marked by its skewed priorities. The narrative first introduces the viewer to a homeless man with zero material attachments or belongings. When he comes across some abandoned, forgotten money along a road, it holds little to no interest for him. He is hungry, but a piece of paper cannot fill his stomach. And yet, when those who are privileged and marked by all worldly comforts come across the same note of cash, how will their approach to life be determined by the decision they make?

Mad | Short Film Nominee

The short video presents to you the personification of the Hindi language as a woman who sits dressed in all her finery. She enjoys the ornaments and clothes, feeling an innate sense of pride until voices begin to echo in the background. 

A large portion of Indian society still places the English language on a pedestal, allowing neocolonialism to get the better of us. This often also leads to the rejection of the vernacular language of Hindi, spoken by a sizeable population of the country. The video (which could have perhaps gained from a little more clarity in its visuals), shot within a single location in a room, raises the same issue, presenting the viewer with this specific moment in our cultural space.

Hindi - Maatri Se Maatr | Short Film Nominee

The film seeks to raise awareness on depression, that so many young people suffer from. It approaches
the question from the perspective of a young man who is completely bogged down by the trails of life
and sees no way out. For him, the agony of depression is a question of freedom and entrapment. He
contemplates taking his life, but then takes a step back.

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