The film explicitly or implicitly addresses two big issues of contemporary Indian debate at this point in
time: religious communalism and nationalism. But these are also two of the most perennial themes in
film, so it is hard to say if the film really strives to make an urgent political comment. 

It is a story of three children, who once planted a flag in the ground and stationed a make-shift post to
honour the martyrs who were killed in the war. After some years, an ‘Army Temple’ was established at
the same spot as a monument to forever remember the sacrifices of the brave soldiers. By creating protagonists belonging to different religions, namely Hinduism, Islam and Christianity, who
are all serving in the Indian army to safeguard the interests of the nation state, the film seeks to
promote the message of secularism.

Army Temple | Short Film Nominee

The film opens with a zoomed in scanning of a corpse, dressed for a Hindu ritualised cremation. It accurately spells out the temper of the film, one of
anger and frustration, perhaps even rage. One can tell that the film is coming as a
reaction to the atmosphere of genocidal killings of the Muslim population in India that has been carried
out with implicit apathy of the rest of the country, but is
it enough to let art use voyeuristically graphic violence in the form of a reaction to it? Perhaps one cannot
evade ethics while dealing with a sensitive political subject. The film itself presents the possibility for an antidote to this outrage through the figure
of Master Kaka who engages with the big complex questions through “common-sense”, compassion and
commitment to change.

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