The short film is an engaging interaction with the ideas of identity and its expression, but viewed through the innocence of childhood. Ahead of his thirteenth birthday, a Sikh boy has a very particular gift he desires this year. However, he is fully aware that it will only be frowned upon and never allowed within his community. The rest of the narrative is a wonderful conversation with these intentions and all endeavours to realise them as reality. Without explicitly spelling out its premise, the film becomes an endearing portrayal of a child approaching and critiquing societal constructs. The camerawork is skilled, while not entirely seamless. The several elements of the story meld into each other to provide an end product that is heartwarming, despite the shock it invokes in the characters directly in contact with the situation at hand.

Mast Qalandar | Short Film Nominee

The premise of the film is straightforward and simple - the selfless dedication of a mother towards her son who is slow in realising and appreciating its value. The narrative does a wonderful job of conveying this through small acts of affection and kindness that a mother does for her child - sometimes chiding him, sometimes surprising him, but never being anything less than loving and caring towards him. The son, on the contrary, finds himself preoccupied with his own friends and love life, celebrating his birthday with them, until the realisation dawns upon him. Sheeba Chaddha is most convincing and endearing as the mother, striking just the right chords in terms of chemistry and performance. The film is constituted by visually pleasing frames that help to further enhance the story. Despite its simplicity and complete absence of any complex tools, the film manages to win the viewer over and leave them with a sense of warmth and tenderness.

Special Day | Short Film of the Day

As we are met with a girl right before she leaves her bed and jumps into the day, the title suggests that this morning is a little out of the ordinary. The moment she begins scrolling down her phone, looking for birthday wishes with grogginess still in her eyes, our guess is confirmed, and we then become equal participants in her morning routine. Amidst it all, however, a fallen earring lies ignored on the floor, and a sense of something amiss never truly leaves the narrative. 

The writing does a notable job of conjuring this suggestion of unease, not revealing its cards until the very juncture when the final revelation begins. The charming protagonist ensures that we are deeply involved in her world of music and chirpiness before we begin to preempt what is about to unfold. The seamless edit and visuals together become the most marked strengths of the film, offering a completed whole to the viewer to interact with.

Birthday | Short Film of the Day

As the title suggests, mirrors and all that they stand for become a crucial metaphor that drives the film forward. It is Roopal’s birthday and she sits before her reflection in a lovely red dress and lipstick before she steps out with her friend for a celebration. However, she is on edge throughout. 

The slightest change in Roopal’s environment makes her deeply uneasy, introducing the viewer to her anxiety and stress simmering right under the surface. For us to truly understand what plagues her, the writing, screenplay, and story notably rope in ideas of the past and how it can continue to haunt and traumatize someone. The protagonist is brought to life by a powerful performance that invokes an unmissable union of vulnerability and strength. 

While Roopal will continue to battle a broken relationship with her mother, as well as the memories of the most horrifying assault that occurred on one of her birthdays when she was a child, albeit not without the support of well-meaning, but sometimes ill-equipped friends, would she find it in her to finally overcome the tumultuous past that she carries within?

Aaine Mein | Short Film Nominee

The hour is late and a man sits before a desk when a notification on the phone alters the course of the night. It is someone’s birthday, and thus begins his struggle to draft a text message to the woman in question. Through his inability to find the right words, the film presents a story of hesitation and the burden of things left unsaid. It is a realm defined by longing, heartache, and the nagging thought of unrealized desires. Without dialogue, the film conveys all these ideas, while maintaining lucidity and brevity in its communication.

Unsent | Short Film Nominee

One day, a day that happens to be his sixtieth birthday, Peter receives the most unexpected guest. Unable to recognize him, while the man remembers him clearly, Peter has to reexamine his past from twenty-five years ago for this visit to make sense. The story reveals a shocking development and does it with earnestness as the plot comes into its own. Visuals move from the confines of a room, to hilly, green outdoors to back to a room where the most pivotal action of the film will occur. With unpredictable events up its sleeve, the storytelling exhibits potential, even if it lags a little in terms of narratorial progression. If the same is finetuned, it would be interesting to engage with more such endeavors in the future.

Some Connections | Short Film Nominee

The film starts along a dark corner in the night, an image that would come to define the rest of the narrative both visually and emotionally. A man speaks with his estranged wife on her birthday. Bela, on the other hand, is quick to end this conversation, not allowing him into their twenty-year-old daughter's life. 

The grief of being estranged from his family, and having never met his daughter, pushes him into a drunken stupor. When he takes a shared cab with a young woman the same night, he is a complete nuisance to both her and the driver. However, this car ride won’t be like any he has taken. Though the film could have gained from tighter control of its lighting, even if employing shadows and darkness as a core component, it remains a sincere endeavor in storytelling, marked by the dedication of all the performances to bolster the same.

The Quest | Short Film Nominee

The film opens on the day of the protagonist's birthday, but she is far from feeling the cheer. The story develops gradually and organically to reveal the events that have led to this sense of despondency. The birthday this year invokes the memory of the same day the previous year, and thus begins a narrative of grief, loss and regret. The film, though about a relationship shared between a father and daughter, also becomes about the process of grieving, and eventually letting go and finding closure. It invokes all of these emotions for the viewer, and offers a comprehensive narrative as a complete whole constituted by a beginning, middle and end.

This Day That Year | Short Film Nominee

The story of the film is an honest and innocent attempt to give the viewer a glimpse into the life of a young man quarantined away from his family. It is a lazy time when even a favourite show is not catching his fancy. However, soon a video call with his mother changes the course of the day which also holds special significance for the two of them.

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