Loosely based on a true event, ‘Aarzi’ invokes a sense of transitoriness in its title. The same sentiment becomes the guiding force of the film. The story locates itself in a pandemic-stricken world where the loss of life and loved ones has overwhelmed our reality. Two parallel narratives develop side by side in the film. A mother-daughter duo relaxes at home, while a couple battles bereavement on their way back home from assumedly a funeral. 

The film does an intelligent job of keeping these realities separate until the very moment when an overlap provides the crux of the story. In the process, the viewer’s attention is drawn to the horrifying migrant crisis of India which left hundreds of thousands of daily laborers stranded with no shelter or refuge.

Aarzi | Short Film Nominee

In a traditional Indian set-up, women are often relegated to the space of domesticity within a family, with little outlet or options for understanding their personal, unique desires. The short film is an engagement with this thought as it takes the viewer into a single day in the life of a housewife. Married to a callous, distanced husband, she works hard at being a supportive, loving partner, but is only met with rejection and dismissal at every step. If on the one hand she recounts the story of a bird trapped in a gold cage, on the other, there is also an indication of an increasing amount of bitterness trickling into her own personality, making her cynical and weary of the world around her. The writing of the film deserves a mention for bringing out these elements that constitute her life, as well as portraying an intimate, but often denied part of her personality - her relationship with dance. The narrative finally concludes with the suggestion that perhaps it could have been her performance art that would have let her to be who she truly desired, finally allowing the trapped bird to soar free. However, in this existence, that remains far from being her reality.

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