On the edge of a huge marshy land, three young boys are playing the game of cricket with a hard rubber ball and a twisted tree branch for a bat. While they seem to be enjoying the game, the tense, continuous ‘ring’ in the background sets up a somber and suspenseful mood. The two older boys, Amol and Bittu, pick on Anshu by tossing the ball in far off places, perhaps in an attempt to get rid of him. 
As the innocent boy trails into the tall grass to find the ball, the film cuts to his home where his widowed mother is putting together rice on a wooden chulha. She asks Amol, who is engrossed in a toy, about his younger brother’s whereabouts and after receiving no concrete reply, steps out with a lamp. Concerned and scared, she looks for her boy in the pitch-dark woods accompanied with an unsettling chirping of crickets. During the search, she comes across mysterious, strange incidents - a religious sacrifice, an accident, a loss; narrating a deeper story than intended. 
Inspired by true events, the film appeals to the protectiveness and love of parents, and how more often than not, as kids, we fail to acknowledge and appreciate them for their efforts.

The Lost Son | Short Film Nominee

Marriage can often prove to be a very oppressive institution where women end up with the short end of the stick. Denied of agency and sometimes even the basic right to exercise their will, especially when it comes to the matters of the bedroom, they are left struggling to protect themselves from the power patriarchy equips the husband with. The short film brings to life all of these issues by taking us into a single night between a couple where the woman has been forced into the marriage. As attempts of a sexual encounter progress on the part of the husband towards his unwilling wife, the plot presents its primary concerns to the audience.

Consent | Short Film Nominee

A girl is tightly sealing a nondescript box to perhaps hide or store it away somewhere. It is soon revealed that she is trying to get rid of this seemingly indestructible object which somehow keeps finding its way back into her life. As the protagonist finds herself facing failure after failure, the short film employs no dialogue, but only the drama developing on screen, to share its intentions with you. The box becomes a metaphor for those past memories of her life that weigh her down. While she attempts to get rid of them repeatedly, the viewer is allowed a glimpse into her futile endeavor.

A Secret | Short Film Nominee

A beautifully dressed woman sits before a mirror while a makeup artist helps to complete the final look. Even though she is dressed to the nines, the makeup and hair perfectly in order, she still seems to be wracked by anxiety and stress. An insecurity about her nose overwhelms her to the point of marring her confidence, which eventually gets in the way of what she is trying to achieve, suggests the narrative. However, the moment she leaves the room, another development awaits. The makeup artist now begins to apply makeup on his own face. He seems to be enjoying himself until the realization of how out of place this might seem in a heteronormative society shackles him, making this form of self-expression even harder. The short film aims to invoke both of these narratives simultaneously, while discussing the notion of beauty and how deeply it is controlled by societal standards, often keeping truly beautiful people from being the best version of themselves.

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