The title will tell you that the film most likely revolves around mental health awareness. However,
barring the jaded first scene, the film makes quite interesting, subtle reflections on how pervasive the
impacts of anxiety can be. For instance, the very first dialogue talks about racing heartbeats. Kabir, the
protagonist immediately clarifies to the viewer that these heartbeats are not an outcome of fear but
brought out by a rare bout of excitement. This is an extremely detailed insight. Someone dealing with
anxiety will profess how accurate this sensation is. Anxiety keeps one’s body hostage in a flight or fight
mode so often that when a moment of positive excitement comes, it feels impossible to distinguish. 
It is difficult to say with authority how consciously and thoughtfully the filmmaker created this reference,
but what’s promising is that he sticks with it. The paralysing effects of everyday anxiety that push one
towards pursuing extreme perfectionism, which deprives you of even the simplest of moment of peace
or relaxation are emphasised continually through subtle references. Kabir is listening to rock music, but
thinking of EMIs, his friend congratulates him on getting the job but he is still reeling with self-doubt. 
When the news of the lockdown is announced, Kabir’s friend, immediately calls him to check up on him
and asks him to “not panic.” One again, to survivors of anxiety, this is a resounding reference. 
The writing is crisp, and on-point, and so is the acting. Impressive.

Vikalp | Short Film Nominee

The Cure is a documentary on an extremely important and provocative subject. It looks at mental illness
and social taboo through the content of faith and religion. The film bases itself in a predominantly rural
context where people with mental illness are presumed as possessed by a demon, as a casualty of black
magic or as an outcome of their past bad karma. The film explores the concepts of the rational and the
irrational through a number of perspectives. A chartered accountant, who is also an astrologer, explains
the various facets of astrology as a way to study mental illness. We see the head of the temple, with
several degrees including a B.Tech and a PhD, consider mental illness a spiritual matter. We see
heads of Suicide Prevention NGOs speaking of ostracisation in schizophrenic patients. All these
conversations highlight interesting perspectives, but, it becomes difficult to follow the thread of
conversations. The documentary collates conversations, one after the other, perhaps in a bid to assert its
objectivity, but in the absence of questions or an authorial thread, it becomes hard to distinguish the
trivial from the sincere.

The Cure | Short Film Nominee

Don’t charts that one dark moment that has the power to alter a life forever. 
A boy is in torment and is pushed to the brink of suicide. He is prepared to hang himself from the ceiling. However, in that precise moment, something inside him changes. 
The film employs a subtle, slow-motion retracing of his footsteps, back to the moment when he goes to
his balcony to fetch a bed sheet to hang himself with. The birds were chirping when he went to get it, the same birds which were still chirping in his moment of trial. 
We do not know what exactly drove him to take his life or bring him back to it because that’s not
the point of the narrative. The film promotes the message of hope, wonder and life by emphasising that all we must strive
to do is to overcome that excruciating moment of helplessness; there is still good left to see,
feel, cherish.

Don't | Short Film Nominee

BestFriend is an experimental short about a series of monologic conversations a man has with his ceiling
fan. He describes how the varying speed of the fan illustrates his various moods. The man also goes so far
as to call it a psychotherapy session, where he is talking, making the ceiling fan privy to his innermost
thoughts, feelings, desires, and fears. 
Experimental cinema needs motivation, no doubt. In this particular film, however, there seems to be a dissonance of sorts between the idea and the writing that eventually translates to screen. The same relationship can be explored further in future projects by the filmmaker.

BestFriend | Short Film Nominee

Arjun’s flatmate Roy forgets to leave the keys for him before leaving for his parents' place. Since the
lockdown is imposed the following day onwards, there is little option for Arjun than to take up
whatever make-shift situation he is offered. As a result, he relocates for the night to Roy’s friend’s
apartment which is close-by. As he is walking towards the building, he begins to experience something
eerie. This is the narrative’s way of indicating the big shift that is about to take place. 

This apartment, shared by Roy’s friend, already has two other boys as flatmates who are friendly to
Arjun. The boys start playing a game of cards and there is a power cut. Suddenly, noises of a man
screeching in pain, as though he is being struck, are heard. Arjun is baffled, but the boys know a secret he
doesn’t know.

The Apartment | Short Film Nominee

Rebecca is an ambiguous film, leaving you unsure about how advantageous ambiguity in a narrative is when you’re
dealing with two extremely sensitive and pervasive issues: rape and mental illness. Perhaps, the viewer
can decide for themselves. 
The film begins with a rather progressive beginning, which makes one hopeful of its intentions towards
awareness on mental health. Rebecca is speaking to her psychotherapist about her graphic dreams. But
as soon as the doctor starts speaking the conversation becomes problematic. He prescribes her some
medicines to help her sleep better, and attributes her dreams to the trauma of past events when she
was molested. The gaze instantly becomes aggressive, violent and triggering. He pats her hand in an
offensive way, which elicits a notable response in her. Next thing we know the doctor has been found dead, and
Rebecca’s hands are covered in blood. It’s understood that the psychotherapist was one of her
assaulters, yet, on the level of film, the narrative is hard to comprehend.

Rebecca | Short Film Nominee

1930 traces the journey of a man trapped inside his room for thirty days during The Great Depression of
the 1930s in Oklahoma. From eating three meals a day, his nutrition has been reduced to half a bread a
day, and even that goes away soon. He is forced to eat pets, rodents and insects. The man is ruminating
on how badly his life has been affected. He is despairing and miserable, hopeless and cynical. However,
the film lacks the historical awareness or details that would be necessary for a period film.

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