With the growing influence of the digital media, expanding wingspan of the Internet and very less time at the hands of the modern film viewer, short films are increasingly attracting more eyeballs. Mahima lists the 10 outstanding films that you must watch, as Special Feature, exclusively for Different Truths.
Short films, the new-age cinema of and for those who wish to invest a quick-time in meaningful stories, the shorter version of an impactful storytelling. Short films mean an urge to tell an engaging story and that too in less than half the time with only a fraction of the budget. And this year, I rummaged through some 30 short films and shortlisted 10 best. And you must not miss watching these before the year ends. But let me alert you, the numbers marked against the names below are not the rank, since each one is a gem in its own genre.
1. Chhuri
Directed by Mansi Jain, this gem from the kitty of writer-actor Tisca Chopra is the captivating tale of a crafty homemaker and who she turns the tables on her younger, shiftier mistresses. It drifts away from what we have seen in Indian cinema, it is not the tale of a wronged wife lashing out dramatically at cheating husbands and his mistress. It is the echo of a wronged woman’s sentiment: “Denial is not an option anymore and she needs to take charge.”
2. The Manliest Man
Directed by Anuj Gulati, I found this one as the scariest short film of 2017. The Manliest Man is a clever comparison of the horrific mundaneness of female infanticide to the futility of the rural caste system still rampant in India even after 70 years of independence. Set in a remote hinterland village, Gulati’s palette is a chilling reminder of how India is still mentally living in Stone Age even when we claim to be the fastest developing digital economy.
3. Sisak
Director Faraz Ansari’s Sisak is the first silent LGBTQ film of India that has, till date, won 34 awards at various film festivals in India and abroad. Sisak, meaning silent tears, a sob stuck in the throat is a 20-minute silent film – a brilliant rendition of the pain and emotions of two protagonists played by Jitin Gulati and Dhruv Singhal. Not many know that the original lead cast had backed out at the last minute and director Faraz had to make up for the lost money to make the film by selling off his car as well by crowdfunding. As a columnist with Different Truths, recently I also won a very famous Digital Summit Award for picking up a bold subject like this and extract a tell-all two-part interview from director Faraz (who didn’t shy about his own preferences in life) as well as both the lead actors.
4. Juice
A gem from director Neeraj Ghaywan, this in my view was the most necessary short film to be made ever. Juice stars forever-in-form Shefali Shah as a housewife entangled in Indian culture’s inbred patriarchy while hosting her husband’s friends and their families over dinner on the weekend. The echo of this film’s cacophony is a resultant much-needed facepalm. A shout out to the women to stop muttering #MeToo under their breath. A strong call to step out of the blindfolds of the institution-of-companionship to command a respect that they deserve for being amazing home managers.
5. The Black Cat
Directed by Bhargav Saikia this one as the late Tom Alter in his final act, which is a must watch. And some misty Ruskin Bond magic simply adds beauty to this captivating story of one mysterious cat at a Mussoorie cottage and the great actor Tom Alter playing a crabby writer, while a Shernaz Patel plays a gleeful witch! This is the stuff children’s dreams or maybe nightmares are made of – the kind of storytelling magic that gets diluted with age and economics. After all with developing Digital Age, our children too need some dose of sensible viewing. The country needs filmmakers like these.
6. The Affair
Directed by Hardik Mehta, this is one of the saddest yet very optimistic short film of 2017 based on the Maximum City Mumbai. It revolves around a “Marine Drive” couple – one of those passionate millions who is forced to seek privacy in the throes of public spaces. Mehta projects the major issue of the urban space-crunch epidemic through this gripping tale of intimacy – something India dismisses as desperate and lustful without understanding any couple’s circumstances.
7. Jai Mata Di
Director Navjot Gulati’s short film is a satire on what a live-in couple faces in the Indian society, despite the Supreme Court having ruled in this relationship’s favour. It is the story of an urban live-in couple (Shriya Pilgaonkar, Shiv Pandit), who face the ultimate test: to rent a flat in a typically judgmental suburban housing society. ‘Jai Mata Di’ is a rare life episode that may pass off like a comedy, ut is actually a soft-hitting tragedy as well.
8. Pashi
This Himachali short film is an award-winning spree having recently won the award for Best Short Film at the South Film and Arts Academy Festival. Directed by Siddharth Chauhan – ‘Pashi’ (Pahari word for trap) is an unusual love story, which unfolds when a visitor arrives and meets his neighbour after years. A young boy simultaneously learns about the technique of trapping birds from his wicked grandmother and begins practising it. What emerges is beautiful art piece of new-age story telling.
9. Syaahi
Directed by Varun Tandon, Syaahi is the gripping saga of a neglected son of a failed author – and his see-through ambitions which he wants to make true through his son. Isn’t that lost childhood a but-obvious often-overlooked “price” of artistic ambition? And with a son named Vansh – meaning: lineage, Tandon’s film is a nerve wrecking tale of that obsessive and socio-psychopathic tendency of writers or in particular Indians, who subconsciously fail to enjoy that very life that inspires them to fictionalise it.
10. Anukul
Director Sujoy Ghosh’s extremely well-detailed science-fiction is an adaptation of legendary Satyajit Ray’s short story. Kolkata-based film unfurls almost entirely indoors in a futuristic time when “domestic” robots have completely replaced household servants. It is the story of a teacher (Saurabh Shukla) and his loyal machine (Parambrata Chatterjee) living a fascinating Krishna-Arjun bond through the empathetic prism of morality. With two amazingly talented actors and an ace storyteller, Anukul is a tale that leaves you with goosebumps as well as a compulsive introspection.
The above is my list of the best short films India made in 2017. But you might have a different truth, a different list. Share it with us below in the comments column. But don’t miss sharing the above list with your friends so that you can invite them to some popcorn and meaningful cinema to wrap 2017.
Happy New Year to you all!
©Mahima Sharma
Photos and video links sourced by the author from Internet
#FlameOnIce #BestShortFilmsOf2017 #BestShortFilms #ShortFilmsof2017 #ShortFilms #AwardWinningShortFilms #Sisak #LQBTQSilentFilm #InternationalAwards #Syaahi
#TheBlackCat #TomAlter #Juice #ShefaliShah #JaiMataDi #Chhuri #TiscaChopra #TheManliestMan #TheAffair #Pashi #Anukul #Saurabh Shukla #Parambrata Chatterjee #LookingBackAT2017 #DifferentTruths
By
By
