‘Gandhi Virus’ presents a most intriguing world to the viewer, constructed with thoughtfulness and care to ensure the plot is communicated to the viewer with conviction and lucidity. 

A man, the protagonist, is desperate and very disturbed on a phone call to his mother. His uncontrollable sobbing gives way to the events of only a few minutes ago. The film thus presents a dystopic reality where a bizarre virus has humankind in its tight hold. 

 The virus makes its host kind and non-violent. On paper, the proposition sounds nothing short of utopia, but its consequences are far from that, as the narrative continues to portray, ensuring that its storytelling remains a marked strength. Additionally, the film keeps the audience engaged throughout, concluding with the emphatic communication of all of these ideas.

Gandhi Virus | Short Film Nominee

Set in the near future, a dystopia where complete totalitarianism and misogyny rule over the state, the short film revolves around the courage and strength of one woman. The protagonist is an acclaimed Bharatnatyam dancer who is forcibly removed from her family. Her memories are erased and she is thrown in a hellish jail, the Cell. For her, like many other inhabitants of the Cell, the crime was being more independent and successful than her male counterpart. 
Soon, the protagonist starts to remember glimpses of her past - a disapproving husband, arguments with her daughter, but more importantly her art, her dance. The narrative does a notable job of communicating all of these emotions, and tying them with the most effortless and skilled dance sequence. The intense performance, with graceful yet hard-hitting movements, thus becomes an expression of revolt against oppression and patriarchy. As the protagonist conjures a fluidity and litheness of the body on screen, the message is allowed a fitting portrayal for the viewer to engage with.

Colors: Saffron | Short Film of the Day

The film locates itself in a futuristic, dystopic society, where human existence is marked by tracking chips and an insidious cough that threatens to prove extremely detrimental to the very existence of mankind. This is further coupled with skilled visuals of illustrations that exhibit notable talent and ease with a pencil and paper. In terms of its story, Prophecy weaves a plot that leads the viewer by the hand to a specific location, only to later portray the folly of it all. As the fictive space of the film battles a severe health problem, also echoing our contemporary reality, the narrative simply puts forward the protagonist's experiences of attempting to survive the formidable circumstances. The same is communicated to the audience by visuals of only a pair of hands sketching images corresponding to the events that are unfolding. While the crisis rages on and on, would our protagonist finally achieve the safe haven he seeks, and perhaps, deserves?

Prophecy | Short Film of the Day

As the name suggests, Praleh takes the viewer into a post-apocalyptic world where a man wears a mask even inside a house as he tries to catch a glimpse of the world outside from a small window. The walls behind him are covered with newspaper cuttings of an atomic explosion, communicating to the viewer the reality the film is set in. The man lives by himself, trying to survive whichever way he can, at the same time, the viewer is also introduced to his life that once was. It is evident that despite having survived the catastrophe, the protagonist is still within the clutches of his memories and past. And as if they were to take a corporeal form while visiting him, soon different characters begin arriving at his doorstep. The narrative enters the abstract space of metaphors and symbols to truly introduce us to the torment of the man, who may have outlived an apocalypse, but still has to overcome the several internal, emotional obstacles he battles within.

Praleh | Short Film of the Day

The film attempts a conversation around surveillance and offers differing views that make you pause. Set in a dystopic society where the government's presence in an average person's life has become all pervasive, the film is a conversation between a couple, convincingly played by the two lead actors. While one questions this invasion of privacy, the other is quick to point out the same process set in motion in the name of marketing in the digital space. The narrative concerns itself with a topic that could have slipped into the space of propaganda or over-glorification of particular ideologies. However, its strength lies in the fact that it falls in neither of the two categories and offers an objective, balanced approach to both sides of the argument.

Naukri | Short Film of the Day

The world is moving towards a water crisis of staggering proportions. As our population continues to increase manifold, the sources of ground water are depleting at an equally rapid pace. It is this reality that the film wants to make the viewer realise by over-pronouncing and emphasising it in a world that is already battling severe and life-threatening scarcity of water. In a realm that represents the harshness and barrenness of a parched land, those in pursuit of water fight for survival. The storytelling comes across as a sincere, dedicated endeavour to invoke a dystopic world marked by the survival of the fittest as characters resort to slitting each other's throat or even drinking their own blood as long as it extends their life, even if by a few minutes. Further, the aridity of the blasted heath finds an echo in this story marked by a complete absence of dialogue. The visuals of the film are notable, perhaps its strongest aspect. However, it could have gained from a little tautness in the narrative.

Day Zero | Short Film Nominee

The film serves as a disturbing reminder of the human onslaught on the environment, and the soaring levels of pollution that are slowly killing the planet. It is set in a dystopic society, not more than fifty years ahead of the present, where oxygen and water have become commodities rare enough to trigger wars. The film has a noble intention, very relevant in contemporary times as well. However, it's aimed at familiarising the masses with issues of climate change, not meant to be seen as a deep engagement with questions of survival. An unsuspecting viewer might find themselves disappointed with the narrative, VFX and the general execution of the story.

Carbon | Short Film Nominee

Set in a world where oranges are extremely crucial for surviving the rise in deficiency diseases, Unearth is a satirical take on youngsters and their understanding of the country’s socio-political situation. Friends from college, Krrish and Namrata, are both preoccupied with their own immediate issues which reflect in their conversation as they sit together one morning. 
For Krrish, having fresh, healthy oranges before leaving for office is a must, whereas Namrata is struggling with a severe neck-pain resulting from the previous night’s uncomfortable sleeping position. The two parties are inconsiderate of each other's issue, thinking of them to be trivial and not as important as their own. Ultimately as fate would have it, both end up in a similarly sour situation.

Unearth | Short Film Nominee

A dystopic, experimental space is employed to take the viewer into a world where greed and hunger have consumed everything. A wasteland of an existence that once was, now lies dead and decaying, portrayed by a reality that is submerged under murky water. 

The short film exhibits potential in terms of thought, and narrative building. There is also the endeavor to rope in poetry and an elemental lyricism in its storytelling. Though rough edges remain in the department of sound, ‘Bhook’ is loud and clear in the message it wants to share about human existence and the consequences of its actions.

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