How strong can your imagination be? As “you” imagine it, you’re supposed to have control over it, but sadly it is far from the truth. Imagination is a wonderful gift that humans possess, but its true powers go beyond what one can fathom, and when all you can do is just imagine, with no way of confirming whether it is the truth or not, that’s when your mind, which is always inclined to finding some certainty in the vast sea of uncertainty for reassurance comes up with its own explanations, sometimes good, and sometimes as a big and horrible nightmare.

The Story!

Shot in the rural settings of Karnataka, “Paroksh” which translates to ‘invisible’ is a 12-minute short film directed by Ganesh Shetty and it explores this theme of imagination very very well while keeping in mind the surroundings and culture that fuels it. The film focuses on the peaceful life of a couple, which gets haunted by a seemingly ominous presence only to end with a big comic relief. As the film reaches its climax and all the cards are out, it makes one wonder about the true existence of things that one believes in but cannot see. From demons and hell to heaven and God, how much of it is just our imagination and how much of it is actually true? But as human beings, all endlessly searching for some kind of meaning all we can do right now is believe. 

It also makes one think, how easier it is to believe in things we fear more than to believe in things that are kinder or good to us. The film shows how the couple holds some rituals to bring in good luck and ward off the seemingly ominous presence, but a ritual for good well-being could have been held with or without the thought that something bad is out there. By doing this the film tries to show us how our human brains are so used to looking for the good mostly when we come face to face with the bad that it almost makes it vital for evil to survive for us to value goodness. And that is exactly how superstitions feed on an entire country.      

Paying homage to the quirky superstitions his country believes in, Shetty manages to bring forth the true elephant in the room, i.e., how simple everyday things left unexplained can make one’s mind attach supernatural elements to it, thereby sowing the seed for a big “coconut” tree of superstition. By using “Tulu” as the language of communication for the entire film, Shetty manages to add more authenticity and genuine fear in the minds of the viewers, as the local language helps the actors convey their emotions effortlessly and impactfully.

Based on an actual true event that took place in 2015, in Kundapur, Karnataka, the film is dramatised a bit to keep the suspense alive and the viewers at the edge of their seats till the very last scene. With the perfect lighting and sound effects to capture each element of suspense, “Paroksh” is a must-watch for people looking for a little scare and a whole lot of laughter.      

Someone once said, “Human beings are social beings”, but they forgot to add how all these social connections are followed up by the inevitable confusion. Confusion further leads to worry and fear, which obviously leads to doing nothing. It’s easier to think when it’s just you, but add more people in the mix and your brain just can’t stop overthinking it. 

Growing up in an environment where people around you are more focused on you than on themselves you’re bound to grow up with that way of thinking. Every time you are offered the last piece of momo or the last serving of aachar, your mind gets filled with glee and you can’t stop feeling grateful. Thinking about others before yourself is not at all a wrong way of thinking, but the issue rises when you entirely forget about yourself in the midst.

The Story!

Written and directed by Manav Rath, the short film, “Kashmakash” which literally translates to “The Dilemma” tries to highlight this very point. Focusing on a middle-class family living in a metropolitan city, the film showcases two scenarios, both involve women living in two different cities of India, in one case our lady in power works at a big office in Delhi hoping to start her own business venture one day, and in the other, she has already made our previous lady’s dream a reality in Jaipur with fewer amenities. Their meeting helps in resolving the dilemma that has been surrounding the entire film, i.e., to do or not to do?

Dreams are desires and wishes, and everyone has them, but only a few actually take part in the gamble by going all in for this dream to become a reality. Add the factor of you being a woman and living in a society that expects you to be perfect at all times without making any mistakes and this gamble just transitioned from level 5 to 10. But the truth is the more you think about it, the more you sleep on it, the sweeter the dream seems, and that prevents you from waking up and ever making it into your reality. Your dream becomes a part of one of your trivial fantasies as you lose your willpower to ever make it into a reality and you enter the blame game, blaming everything in your sight to keep you from blaming yourself for it. And that’s exactly what the film portrays.

Dwelling on a dilemma is all fine and in fact, it’s necessary to think before you act, but to just think and think and enter this world of neverending thoughts and not be able to make a move is when you need to stop. Sadly, you’re not Peter Pan and we are not in Neverland, and time moves on and so do opportunities. Sometimes we all just need to take a lesson from Alberto (from the Disney movie Luca) and tell that thing in our that just keeps thinking and thinking, “Bruno, Shut up!”

Gentle Reminder

No matter where you are in the world, if you just take one step ahead, you will get something. True, you won’t always get what you desired, but hey, at least you’re a few steps closer to it. The film showcases the power action holds. It also highlights how it’s just the courage to take the few steps that hold back the development of an entire sex, i.e., women. For centuries it has been actions that have brought women of today to the place they are, it was only when women decided to not return to their homes and continue working outside was when women finally started working out with pride, it was only when women decided that they deserve a say in the political environment in which they live did they finally gain the right to vote, and it was only when women finally decided enough was enough that women started publishing books under their own name. All of these historic movements would not have been possible had they just spent their time dwelling on things. It was taking action that truly led to women’s empowerment.

“Kashmakash” is a must-watch for anyone who needs that slight nudge to finally take that one step. Beautifully capturing the saying, “Action speaks louder than words”, the film ends leaving us to question our inner “Bruno(s)” and ask, “What actually is holding me back?

Kapil Verma directed movie Nitishastra starts with chimes of an aggressive fight sequence. A fight in solidarity for all those women who were let down by society. The society that swears to protect women instead stays silent about the rapid emerging cases of violence against women. The gruesome and chilling reality of how unpredictable and unsafe women are in this country. A reminder of prioritising self-defence in a world dictated by cruel corrupted thoughts towards women.

Synopsis

The movie starts with the funeral of Roshini and Rishi’s mother and changes to an intense fight of rage and emotions between the siblings. Roshini runs a self-defence coaching centre that emphasises how important it is for women to defend against a world dominated by corruption leading to inhumane incidents. Rishi celebrates his win in a boxing match and is seen indulging with the wrong crowd which seems to bother Roshini.

The scene unfolds with Roshini telling Rishi to drop off her one of students. Since it was already dark and late for a girl to travel alone. Roshini with entire trust, the responsibility for her student’s safety casts on her brother. She later gets a call about her student being brutally raped in a serious condition with a severe case of internal bleeding.

Unable to process and grasp the situation. She gets a rushed and scared call from her brother warning her not to tell any information regarding him to the police. With an internal turmoil of blood relation and justice. She heads towards the police informing available information about his involvement in this heinous inhumane activity.

In the last scene of ‘I’m delicate yet I am powerful’, we see a clashing dilemma. A modern world quandary is shown by her mother of compromising and saving her blood relation or standing for the belief of justice and righteousness. With raging eyes desperate to fight for a cause, a woman driven to be in solidarity with all women who have been sexually abused in a corrupted world. Roshini decides to take justice into her own hands and the scene blackens with her brother under her grasp and taking his life.

Taapse Pannu presence in the portrayal of all her emotion appears extremely raw and perceptible. Roshini as a self-defence instructor determined to make a difference in society. An initiative to help women and make them independent. The dialogue delivery and the gravity of expression they contain make an audience emphasise the gravity of her scenes.

A Dark Reality

The short film truly reveals the increasing violence against women. Highlighting the uncertainty and unpredictability of human behaviour raised in a normal household turning into odious crimes. Importantly emphasises creating a space for women to protect themselves and stay vigilant about their surroundings. Independent strong women in all aspects especially mentally and physically to counterattack any obstruction or breach of their space that comes their way.

Violence against women or any gender should be dealt with through severe repercussions to minimise dehumanising actions invading society. Instead create a space for justice, safety and equality for all. A society dictated by absolute moral ethics and conduct. A Nitishastra to cleanse the generational drawbacks of society.

What comprises a utopian world? While commonly for the majority of people it is a world free of all kinds of evils like corruption, poverty, thievery, killings, etc. For women, however, a utopian world would be free of male oppression, or more specifically, the entrenched patriarchy, which has rendered them as inferior beings to males. The inferior status has moreover also made them the victims of heinous and atrocious crimes committed against them by men. A female utopia will therefore be a space free of gender oppressiveness and would be built on the foundations of equality. Vikas Bahl’s short film, ‘Going Home’ starring the talented Alia Bhatt, is a vision for the same.

The movie was a part of the Vogue Empower. Talking about the short film, Vikas Bahl had said, “I pledge to create a short film titled ‘Going Home’, in which we visualise a utopia for women, where, unlike today, mistrust and fear don’t dictate actions and decisions.” The short film is an interesting take on the possibility of this vision of the women.

Synopsis: What Happens In ‘Going Home’

Going Home opens with Alia Bhatt’s character driving a car, on her way to home, at late hours. Like every cliche turn of events, her car breaks down, and very soon we see a car full of men nearby, who stare at her and know that she’s alone in the silent hours of the night. We’ve watched multiple movies and we most definitely can expect what will happen next. However, the film offers a very different perspective. Instead of the woman getting catcalled, kidnapped, or raped, she actually receives help from them without any degree of harm. At the end of the short film, we see Alia sitting between two men in the car while three sit at the back, in the middle of the night, as they drive her to her house. A rare and an impossible sight indeed, isn’t it? So what makes this short film so special, and what’s its message?

Vikas Bahl Blurs The Line Between The Possible And The Impossible

As soon as we spot the group of men eyeing at Alia’s character, stuck in her broken car in the dead of the night, we get a bad feeling about it, because the news, and the multiple realities have told us what actually goes down in situations like these. However, Vikas Bahl simultaneously offers us two perspectives. While he doesn’t really depict his male characters as well mannered and respectful beings, because their actions are predatory and every second seems like now something bad is about to happen to her, he decides to bring to the screen an alternative reality side by side. Alia Bhatt’s character is not at all scared by any of them. She converses with them like any normal human would. The camera time and again pans to one of these men about to take the wrong step against her, yet the very next second we see the previous action being dropped. Throughout the movie, Alia is calm and composed, and very hopeful that some people are around to help her. Were this scenario were to take place in real life, the consequences would have probably been very horrifying. The film, therefore, emphasises on a possible utopian world for women where they do not have to fear men and the night, and can freely live their lives.

At the end of the movie, Vikas Bahl poses a question for the viewers. Watch the short film to know what it was!

After being confined in our house for more than a year for the sake of keeping the human race alive, it wasn’t long before people kept wishing for that one bite of sandwich from their colleague’s tiffin, the sleepy morning school assembly, the cold Maggi during lunch, and all the things they wished they could get away from to live in their perfect Ice Palace like Elsa’s. It wasn’t easy to live in that Ice Palace when Arendelle is where all the comfort laid. Even when your stay at the Ice Place was never indefinite as new vaccines started circulating everywhere, it didn’t make your longing for the Arendellian warmth any less. So, imagine, being confined to that Ice Palace indefinitely in order to survive, sounds unbearable, but is actually the reality of many.

Released in the year 2014, when self-isolation was an unheard concept, save for the distant future, “The Gatekeeper” by Atanu Mukherjee is a no-dialogue short film that speaks volumes. The film tells the story of an old railway crossing gatekeeper. The railway crossing being in the outskirts was alienated from the hustle and bustle of people. The gatekeeper, played by Bachan Pachehra, brilliantly captures the daily life and social isolation faced by people who do monotonous work to make a living.

In the film, the gatekeeper has an easy job which comes with great responsibility and consequences. As the gatekeeper tries to keep himself busy by doing different activities such as making a house out of cards, eating, fixing the radio, drinking water, etc. one might think how peaceful such a life must be. And it would be, but the question is how long will this peace actually last before the longing for a human companion sets in.

As isolation sinks into our old gatekeeper’s life his mind couldn’t help but wonder about those childhood days when the now worn-out eyes were filled with awe at the power of the trains as he sat next to the track of the train waiting for them to flatten the metal coins that he had laid out on the track. Wishing for those good old days to greet him once more and wishing for a companion that spoke with him about things he is familiar with rather than the share market of an alien world like the radio did, he ended up creating a friend of his own, someone who loved trains and was filled with hope just like he was, someone to remind him why he loved this job, but the blaring sound of the train jerked him out of his trance and reality compelled him to do his job and quit pondering. And just when he quit pondering, he lost a little bit more of his childhood than he did yesterday.

The house of cards that blew away every time the train passed by was a constant reminder of the monotony of the old man’s life, they also symbolized how he lost a bit of his inner child every time a train passed by and knocked down his cards which were a symbol of his joyous childhood. Without a single word slipping out of the actor’s mouth the film, relying heavily on the visuals and noises from the surrounding, manages to capture the true cost of a job that may seem easy but begs the viewer to think, “is it so?” It’s no wonder this masterpiece bagged the Best Short Fiction award at the International Documentary and Short Film Festival Kerala, (IDSFFK) in 2015.