The scene is of a dark night when a man is in a hurry to get to his native village which he left a decade ago. The reason for the rushed trip, making him drive into the lateness of the hour, is to sell an ancestral property. After finally having secured a buyer, this is perhaps a narrow window to get the property off his hands, explaining the urgency to get there in time. Now that the premise of the film is in place, it allows itself to play with darkness, concealing more than it reveals, using shadows and sounds to conjure an eerie atmosphere for the viewer. It's biggest tool to invoke an element of horror is simply a voice, an unhappy, enraged voice, and owing to the manner in which the narrative is weaved, that turns out to be more than sufficient.

Navigator | Short Film of the Day

The seemingly single-take narrative takes us into a conversation between two characters. It is a mundane night when a man is on his way home from work. On the phone with a woman, he discusses his day with her, and we are taken deeper into both of their lives. Soon, terrible events begin to develop, revealing that the woman is now in the way of some great peril. As we listen to her panicky voice alongside the protagonist, little seems to be possible to help her in this dire circumstance. The short film is based on a story by Pascal Chatterjee titled ‘Annie96 is typing…’. Though not the first endeavor to model itself on the story, ‘The Call’ brings its own unique voice to weave the narrative, and portray all that constitutes it.

The Call | Short Film Nominee

Any woman who has travelled alone at night would identify with the anxiety and stress of the protagonist. On her way back from the railway station after dropping her friend, a woman is unable to find any cabs. Time is of essence in the situation for she has slipped out of her house without the knowledge of her parents. Desperate to get home, she gets inside a private cab, despite the lateness of the hour. The narrative brings to life the uncertainty and fear for one's safety, building the suspense gradually. However, at the end of it all, along with the comment about women's safety, awaits a very unexpected development at the story's conclusion.

Not Alone | Short Film Nominee

The first instalment of perhaps a longer series, the short film is simply a glimpse into one night when assumedly two siblings have gone to bed. The elder sister wakes up late into the darkness to find her brother missing. As she tries to bring him back to bed, there is indeed another sinister presence in the house waiting to be introduced to the viewer.

Hooked | Lockdown Film Challenge

What does it mean to be stuck in a cycle of illusions? The narrative raises the same question and keeps the audience guessing throughout about its progression. It's a lonely, dark night when a man stops to ask for directions for a place called Bharamwadi, or the land of illusions. However, as he goes round and round, trying to get to his destination, a horrifying surprise awaits him. Is there a way out of a world of illusions you may have created for yourself?

Bharamwadi | Short Film Nominee

The story of 11:11 offers an account of one night when a woman is alone by herself in a house. Her recounting of events introduces the viewer to her hearing strange noises in the house every night the moment the clock strikes 11:11. The film employs the background score to heighten the effect of the haunting the protagonist struggles with while being alone in the house in the darkness of shadows and eerie occurrences. The film shares a notable performance by its only actor, as well as a weaving of the narrative that keeps you hooked. The conclusion, however, leaves the viewer uncertain, and perhaps could have benefited from a little more engagement with its premise.

11:11 | Short Film Nominee

A man sits in his room, a lamp serving as the only evident source of light in the darkness of the night. While he scribbles some words on the paper, strange occurrences start to take place. Whatever he writes, comes true in a disturbing fashion, leaving him deeply shocked and bemused. He moves from one instruction to another, and those events continue to jump into reality. He frantically searches for a way out of this most uncanny situation, and just when he, as well as the viewer, think a solution has been achieved, something far disturbing happens.

The End | Short Film Nominee

The world the film invokes for you at its very onset is marked by darkness and a murkiness that can acquire threatening proportions any minute. This sense of something sinister lurking at its heart remains consistent throughout the film as it takes us into a realm constituted by crime, guilt, panic and fear. The title has already suggested that the protagonist is headed somewhere. However, when a woman sits in his auto and asks him to take her to a specific neighborhood, while battling emotional stress of her own, something truly unexpected and shocking awaits both him and the viewer. It is only at the plot's conclusion, as all the developments come to unravel, that we realize what will eventually be the fate of the protagonist and how the journey of this night will conclude.

Destination | Short Film Nominee

Two men, one night and a chance encounter - this sums up the narrative of the film. It is the story of two characters from different ends of society whose paths cross with each other in an unexpected manner. While one of them struggles to make ends meet on a daily basis, the other is battling overpowering internal demons that have now left him feeling defeated and surrendered. The former stumbles across the latter's wallet, grabbing on to it greedily. However, when he realises that the owner of the wallet is completely indifferent to his material belongings, it becomes apparent to both him and the viewer that the latter is headed towards a point of no return. In the process, the film becomes a conversation on suicide, a reminder to not give in and the suggestion that no matter how tough the going gets, there can still be little pockets of hope, albeit concealed by shadows, but waiting to be unearthed.

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