Here's a question for you this Gandhi Jayanti - how far will you go to give hope to someone? Abhishek Sengupta's Bapu attempts to give an answer. From the mundane, sleep-inducing rut of a post office to the house of an old man who has been sending out letters to the same address for years - the short film skilfully builds a narrative that will leave you feeling fuzzy at the end of it all. If Bapu truly stands for a figure that will lead the nation into a glorious future, what will it embody - the optimism of youth or the resilience of maturity? Watch this short film to find out.

Bapu | Short Film of the Day

An old man is in bed, about to fall asleep when he is visited by his grandson and a night, perhaps mundane for the characters involved, but eventful for the viewer, soon follows. As the younger man, with a swollen mouth, bleeding gums and a noticeably bad toothache, tries to prepare his grandfather for bed, several memories are invoked by the latter. It is in this manner that the film exhibits surprising and unexpected moments of poignancy within its folds. The narrative ropes in history, the partition of India, the turmoils of a life already lived, the closure which may or may have not been achieved and simply a suggestion of the passage of time that ties it all together in a cohesive, comprehensive whole. The film is endearing, engaging and amusing in equal measure, and leaves the viewer with a sense of a complete product at its conclusion.

Kenchi Aur Pankha  | Short Film of the Day

The film opens on a light note, beguiling the true sentiment that would come to constitute its core. Despite its short duration, Kandh De Paar skilfully touches upon several things that include one's sense of identity, notions of idealism juxtaposed against those of realism, minority persecution as well as an internal ideological battle of the protagonist. Visually, the narrative aims to play with sound (perhaps suggesting a delicate handling of violence) and all that unfolds on screen (red shadows cast on characters, for instance). The beginning of the narrative is simply a chaotic Sikh household dealing with its daily bickering and confusion. However, it immediately progresses to reveal a far darker reality that simmers just below the surface, one of the persecution of the Sikhs in 1984 in the wake of the assassination of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Both Taranjit Kaur and Guneet Singh Nanda bring the story to life with their notable performances and draw the viewer deep into it beyond the point of no return. It should be added that the film does indeed lose brownie points in the department of sound and certain camera angles which could gave gained with a little more polishing and sophistication. However, on the whole, it succeeds at presenting a moving portrayal of a gory and disturbing chapter of Indian history.

Kandh De Paar| Short Film of the Day

By giving a confused terrorist as its protagonist, Faqr Hai talks about India as a nation to be loved, despite all its weakness and disadvantages. A terrorist, who is supposed to carry out an attack on the country, is left alone to research and educate himself about its history. Little does he know that an interesting development awaits him on the other side. Anil Mange, the comedic, clueless terrorist finally manages to reach a decision about his opinion on India. However, will it alter the course of the attack? The film does give in to sentimentalism towards the end, as is not uncommon of several films on the topic, but remains a light-hearted, well-intentioned product to be watched when the immediate reality of the nation disillusions you.

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