Bablu lost his parents during the migrant crisis that took place when millions of workers tried to return to their homes and native villages during the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the film premises itself on a reality as dark as this, the story it seemingly offers is one of hope, dreams, and in the process, upliftment. Using this as a starting point, however, the film eventually moves in decisively unexpected directions. 

The inevitable and consequent contrast proves impactful in driving the narrative’s message home. The screenplay and its many characters are constructed thoughtfully to ensure that even though at first glance the reality might require a slight suspension of disbelief, for instance, a group of kids playing football minus any adult supervision, the eventual conclusion of the film, reinstates all logic and rationale in the plot progression. 

Bablu works at his uncle's dhaba but harbors an innocent dream amidst it all - the dream of playing football like all the other more fortunate kids around him. As the two realities overlap, the film presents a story that is sure to stay with the viewer long after they are done watching the film. Though not devoid of limitations that might sometimes afflict a project spearheaded by young actors, the storytelling, visual structure, and world-building exhibit skill and finesse.

Kaash (If Only) | Short Film of the Month

The short film opens on a harmless note, a man asking his domestic help to fetch him ghee from the kitchen. However, before the viewer can write the scene off as a mundane occurrence in a regular Indian household, the unease of the help is made clear. She is distracted and lost, perhaps preoccupied with something darker and more disconcerting. The plot develops to reveal a lovely juxtaposition of privilege and deprivation, of a cushy urban existence that talks of slight weight gains and lazing around the house, alongside a migrant labourer crisis of a country that battles a pandemic. The contrast is foregrounded in a potent manner, allowing the film to succeed at putting forth its concerns notably before the audience.

Brouhaha | Short Film Nominee

The short film is essentially a very detailed and hyper-localised account of the migrant labourer crisis that India witnessed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The documentary, adopting a micro approach, maps the reality of the crisis in different parts of Goa over a period of time to bring to the viewer an authentic record of what the ground reality looks like. From severe food shortages, to countless people being stranded away from home, to long queues of people putting their pleas forward for some or any kind of employment that enables them to feed themselves, to foiled attempts of crossing state borders, even on foot, to reach their native villages, the film documents it all. In the process, the Trapped in Paradise becomes a comment on several kinds of failures - institutional, structural, societal, as we seem to be collapsing as a community. It further reveals our inability to control the situations around us, followed by the shattering of the illusion of power over them that we may have had. However, unexpectedly, it also shares a silver lining with the viewer in the form of the selfless efforts of people who came forth to feed and help those in need - how members of the Goa Humanitarian Helpline, Migrant Support Group and Covid Outreach Goa, some of the volunteer-led organisations mentioned in the narrative, decided to step up to the situation. The film also ropes in art to drive its message home about empathy, sympathy as well as the idea of pity. Though well-intentioned, with its heart in the right place, the storyline would have benefited from a tautness of the narrative.

Trapped in Paradise | Short Film Nominee

Following the coronavirus pandemic and the consequent national lockdown, the country witnessed an unprecedented situation in the form of the migrant labourer crisis when lakhs of daily labourers found themselves stranded away from home. The film is an account of one such migrant who ended up in a remote village, away from his family in the city, with little to no financial support or even basic necessities available to them. By introducing us to Joseph Hemrom through the accounts of the Manzar family, the narrative first introduces us to a very macro issue that the country battled in the wake of the pandemic, and then localises it to the experiences of one man, Hemrom himself. The film is well-intentioned and is marked by visuals that exhibit potential, and perhaps can be developed further in future projects of the team. Additionally, it offers comments on the state of affairs in society, the desire for success and progress for the younger generations by their predecessors, and above all, the importance of kindness and helping those in need.

The Extraordinary Journey of a Migrant | Short Film Nominee

The coronavirus lockdown also brought with it endless misery in the form of India's migrant labourer crisis. As innumerable people found themselves stranded away from home without any livelihood, the nation witnessed an exodus where the workers took it upon themselves to cover a distance of thousands of miles simply on foot. The short film takes the viewer into the same reality by way of three primary characters. It adopts a fictional narrative to talk about something very real - the plight of the labourers in the face of the apathy of those in power to actually help them. There is also a comment on the compulsions and necessities that lead people to double-cross one another, finally concluding the narrative with a shocking development.

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