Asceticism and spirituality in India is often associated with the colour orange, loose fabrics and long beards, but what if there was more to it? Set to a tune which is catchy and trippy in equal measures, this music video by Gurbax introduces the viewer to precisely these aspects. Made as a fully crowdfunded project, Boom Shankar portrays a group of ascetics swaying to the music. This is accompanied by sudden bursts of colour, synched most smoothly with the video and its music. Watch the video with earphones plugged in and the rest of the world shut out.

Boom Shankar | Short Film of the Day

A hiking and camping enthusiast, known throughout the film as the Pilgrim, leaves his humble abode in the serene, milky depths of hills in search of the answer to an important question. In his journey to the Kumbh mela, he is joined by a chance companion he finds en route. 
As they converse, we learn about a life of alcoholism, the road to sobriety, trysts with meditation and the sum total of all of these events in the form of the protagonist's current existence. The ensuing unsaid understanding and companionship between the two promises a newer perspective of the world and acts as an unconscious guide in the protagonist's endeavor to achieve the answer he seeks. 

Despite the constantly changing physical backdrops, the final result of the short film essentially becomes a series of conversations - between two people, another with the character and the self, and lastly, one between the narrative and the viewer. 
There is the desire and attempt to engage with philosophical underpinnings, questions which are raised by the protagonist himself for the audience's benefit. There is sincerity as well in interacting with all of these concerns. The narrative comes across more as the first steps, albeit taken in the right direction, at the start of their journey in the current moment and in its present form. It is undoubtedly a welcome prospect to have further explorations of the thematic concerns dealt with in The Pilgrim in future projects by the team.

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