'What got into us back then', laments one of the characters of Dhund, looking back at the Partition eleven years later. Much like other Shlok Sharma films, this one too questions the pointlessness of communal conflict and the ugly sides of the human nature it reveals. The short film by Sudeep Kanwal starts on a high and maintains the poignancy all through it's first half. However, in the second half, it dips to not recover again. Had the film been shorter and tauter, perhaps it would have sustained the depth it had set its horizon of expectation for. Despite its flaws, Dhund will leave you with a moving glimpse of a conflict that destroyed many lives, irrespective of the side of the border.

Dhund | Short Film of the Day

‘Watan’ (Homeland) is located against a turbulent political time — the exodus of Hindus from Sindh where the ramifications of the India-Pakistan partition has left the community in mortal peril. The narrative adopts a micro approach to discuss the consequences of these upheavals on the life of a particular family. 
 A crucial part of the plot comes to pivot on a father's refusal to leave his homeland, while his son, Topan, desperately tries to convince him to move to India with the rest of the family. 

As the layers of the narrative are unpeeled, notions of belonging, home, safety and communal sentiments are discussed one by one. The chaos of the circumstance is eventually presented to the viewer in a seamless manner. Even though a few rough edges persist within the screenplay, the end result is notably supplemented by its performances and writing.

Watan | Short Film Nominee

A novelist Manmohan is grappling with a writing endeavor when he receives the most unexpected phone call one day. Stationed in the office of a friend while he is out of town, the protagonist only has his thoughts and words for company until this call changes everything. The voice of a woman on the other side captures his existence entirely, leading him down a path of love and adoration from where there is no return. 

The woman, seemingly sincere in her devotion to the novelist, calls him every day while busying herself with adornment, teasing, and an affectionate attitude toward the receiver of all her calls. As the conversation develops between the two, the writing exhibits seamlessness and ease, employing metaphors and poetic expressions to embellish itself. 

Set in the post-Partition era of the twentieth century, the film acquires a softness that defines it. With Urdu at its core and an overall influence of Hindustani sensibilities, it remains consistent in its developments. 

Despite a few snags within production, specifically in the sound department, there is an unmissable chemistry between the two actors. Irrespective of their fate as lovers, the romance and intimacy between them achieve completion within the narratorial progression. The end result keeps the viewer engaged throughout, simply by the verbal exchanges of its characters, deliberately devoid of any other external action, allowing the film to come together cohesively at its conclusion.

Yunhi Khamakhan | Short Film Nominee

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

Locating itself during a very pivotal moment in history, the 1947 partition of India, the short film introduces the viewer to the social milieu of the time. Using the same as the hinterland against which the narrative unfolds, the film allows its concerns to achieve a more localised, personal and intimate approach. 

 While at first glance the period drama might seem like the story of the communal tensions and the absolute chaos that ravaged the towns that were close to the soon to be mapped out India-Pakistan border, it is much more than that. It is after this realisation that the film becomes the story of an eccentric and temperamental writer who introduces us to his own stories through the dilemmas and conflicts of the characters in his mind. Their visual representation allows almost an other-worldly, surreal quality to the film. 

 As stories of entire cultures get rewritten by history, portrayed by a film whose title, Ardhviram, or semicolon, is a direct echo of something that does not denote completion in itself, where will the protagonist find himself with respect to the thoughts and experiences that consume him, as well as his personal struggles as a writer?

Ardhviram | Short Film Nominee

There is no reason why you should sit through this cringe-fest of a film which throws in names like Sadat Hasan Manto and Naseeruddin Shah, but to very little avail. The characters in the film are shallow, and excluding Shah, accompanied by the most lacklustre performance. Their portrayal is half-hearted and leaves the viewer wondering about what convinced Shah to be part of the film in the first place. With casual racism, stereotyping, sexism and nausea-invoking patriarchy thrown in for good measure, the story is problematic in too many ways to keep count of. The viewer is also forced to pay attention to art direction (or the complete lack of it) and how taking it for granted with unconvincing props and design can make a film fall deeper in the pit of its flaws, even when you thought it had exhausted all criteria of being a bad product. The only pertinent question the film truly raises is about filmmaking and leaves anyone attempting to venture in the territory with a fair warning of how not to make a film like Skin of Marble.

Most Viewed

Genres

Awards

Follow Us

Quick Links