Sometimes in a hurry to please others, we often forget ourselves. And sometimes, in order to be true to ourselves, we forget to experiment and try out different things. There’s always a need to find one’s true self and become the best version of oneself, as was pointed out by Abraham Maslow in his hierarchy of needs. But in order to get there, we often need to try out different things to find our true selves. And even once we do find ourselves, it’s very easy to be stuck in one particular mould forever, whereas we as humans are supposed to explore and expand ourselves with different opportunities. Being the best version of yourself or just being yourself shouldn’t always come with one mould that you never grow from. You should be allowed to grow and glow, and that’s exactly what the short film Sajaavat highlights.

Sajaavat: A Closer Look

Written and directed by Sarang Sathaye, Sajaavat brings to life a tale of every household where the sound of sibling rivalry fills the living room. Siblings share a unique bond of trust and mischief and nothing could capture it better that the film, Sajaavat. Although siblings may fight day in and day out they are always there for all the impotant events and moments in your life. And just like your siblings show up everytime there’s someone else who shows up for you as well, and that is “you”. A little meta way of thinking but it’s true you always show up for yourself. But just like you take your siblings presence for granted so do you take yourself and being yourself for granted, and that’s what the film Sajaavat tries to help you look at.

The film Sajaavat starts off with the regular hum drum of a family whose two daughters are busy bickering. One of them seems to be the favoured one while the other seems to be the angry one. The sibling dynamic is clearly laid out in the film Sajaavat. What is not known is how the siblings cope with their ownself. We get to see how favouritism can bring cracks between a bond but the sooner you find it and fix it the longer the relationship lasts. But the bigger message in the film Sajaavat is the distinction between taking care of yourself and decorating something. The film Sajaavat brings to out notice that taking care of yourself is not equivalent to decorating something or putting up a Sajaavat but rather it’s something you do for yourself. And it shouldn’t be something you should shy away from or be ashamed of.

Afterword

Sajaavat is a film that will heal your soul and make you proud of wherever you are in life and push you to be proud of it just like a sibling would. It’s a film that will reaffirm and reassure whatever you are feeling and let you be your unabashed self.  

Imagine going to do something as mundane as getting a haircut and then spiralling and thinking that the person giving you a haircut is about to cut a vital nerve. Imagine cooking with someone only to imagine them trying to chop you up the next moment. Imagine going to the garden to work with the gardener only to imagine further how they will hit you with the shovel and bury you alive. Sounds chilling right? And mostly because all of these experiences are so normal and mundane that we don’t imagine them ever affecting us in a bad way in real life. It’s the abnormality in the normality of things that sends shivers down our spines. Balaram J, Partha Mahanta, Praful Kumar, and Siddhant Geedh played with these exact ideas to create a chilling short film with Kaanch.

Kaanch: A Closer Look

A student-animated psychological thriller film, Kaanch brings to light the dysfunctionality in your regular functional life as a man with a traumatic past gets constantly hounded with dangerous and traumatic thoughts that affect his present. The brevity of the film is what keeps you on edge as it ends on an abrupt note. Though brief, Kaanch manages to tap into the deep psychological fears that many of us may possess. 

Diving into a bit more detail, there are certain cinematic elements that the film uses to create a sense of anticipation and fear while making it all the more relatable. The movie posters with known actors in the real world like Salman Khan and others in the first shot of the film, Kaanch establishes the context as somewhere in India maybe somewhere in the lane next to where we live. The use of certain colours to build up anticipation, anxiety and confusion in the viewers such as different shades of red to focus on something sinister, and the use of cool tones like blue and grey to differentiate the real world from the thought realm to confuse the audience more is one of the brilliant aspects in this film, Kaanch. 

The very idea that the makers of the film, Kaanch took something very mundane as cutting hair and made it into a nightmare is a true hallmark of a thriller. Often neglected but rather very easy to imagine once you’ve got a knack for it, the mundane world is the best place to harvest thriller and horror. Even though it’s an animated film it’s bound to chill your spine as if it’s a feature film.

Afterword

If you wish to take a chilling break from your day-to-day mundane life, give this film a chance. Who knows maybe tomorrow your regular mundane world will be turned upside down because of just 5 minutes of watch time?

Our mothers have always lied to us. “No, I am not hungry, you eat it”. “You can take the last piece; I don’t like it anyway”. Remember the last time you said ‘Ah’ while your mother was eating and she happily fed you that last bite smiling? Mothers always put their children and families before themselves sacrificing their dreams and desires. Mothers are supposed to sacrifice and they are never supposed to be selfish. To begin with, a woman is never given a chance to choose if she wants to be a mother or not. The world we live in today fails to understand that motherhood is not as objective as it seems to be. Motherhood is felt and experienced differently by different people. Motherhood is not merely biological; it is an emotion. Beans Aloo is a short film that discusses the experience of motherhood and the choices of modern women about being a mother, which is a dialogue between every mother and mother-to-be. 

Beans Aloo: The Plot

The film opens with the mother cooking her married daughter’s favourite dish. While eating the mother and daughter duo have a casual conversation which takes a diversion when the mother brings in the concept of babies to the table. The daughter on the other hand shows complete disinterest in the topic ends up announcing that she does not want to give birth to a child. The mother is concerned and agitated hearing this and keeps reiterating the difficulties of having a child even after years of planning.

As the film progresses the conversation is no longer about the mother and daughter but about what the others think about the daughter not having a child and how society has already started labelling the couple impotent. But the daughter is least bothered about what the others have got to say but is clearly upset because her mother did not stand up for her when the others ill-mouthed her daughter. 

The narrative in the film slowly shifts, as the daughter emphasises the difficulty of raising a child safe and protected in a cruel world like today. But the mother does not give up, she tells the daughter about the beauty of motherhood. But the daughter points out how she sacrificed eating her favourite beans aloo just because her kids hated it. The daughter then tells her mother that she does not have to push a baby out of her to be a mother but she can still experience motherhood. 

When the question “Who will take care of you in your old age?” is thrown at the daughter, she reassures her mother that she will adopt a child if it is really necessary. The film ends with the mother accepting the concept of adoption and finally deciding to cook her favourite beans aloo. 

The Takeaway

We live in a social setting that still reduces the entire existence of a woman to just a reproductive machine that produces babies for the continuation of their family lineages. “A woman truly becomes a woman only after she becomes a mother” is a common phrase that is shown in various Indian films and media to portray the backward mindset of society. But this short film was different, it showed the progress we are making in accepting and acknowledging the choices that today’s women want to make. It is really heartwarming to encounter our parents and family breaking the stereotypes about women and motherhood. Beans Aloo is a film that will bring a smile to everybody’s face.

The reality of poverty is not lost on us, but rarely do we truly factor in the devastating effects of poverty. Hunger and starvation are often considered synonymous with poverty. The struggle of trying to survive is the first one that a person stricken with poverty needs to get over before even considering thriving. Love, friends, and family all take a backseat when your primal urges such as hunger remain unsatiated. And that’s exactly the kind of harsh reality that the short film, Panchwa Paratha highlights.

Panchwa Paratha: A Closer Look

Directed by Sanjay Gupta, the film Panchwa Paratha is set in the early years of India before the horror of the Emergency unfolded. Set in 1972, Kanpur, the film focuses on just one family of four living in rather dilapidated conditions and trying to get by each day with whatever they earn that day. A simple story of a family trying to make ends meet with a happy smile soon takes a turn for the worse as poverty brings out the worst in everyone. 

The climax of the film Panchwa Paratha is what is bound to make you stare and ponder out of the window for the rest of the night. The way the director has built up the anticipation to the very last minute and the expression of anguish and sadness on the faces of the actors convey certain emotions so deep that it’s hard to comprehend them in a few words. The beauty of this entire film is the simplicity of it all. With one or two settings and simple dialogues, the film Panchwa Paratha managed to touch even the ruthless and careless hearts.

Keeping everything simple is not an easy ball game especially when it comes to films but making it interesting with characters that carry more depth with their facial expressions than their words will surely make a film a hit. And that’s exactly what Panchwa Paratha did with their exceptional cast and simple dialogues.

Afterword

Panchwa Paratha will arouse a cocktail of emotions in a person. Ranging from pity to sadness to horror, it is bound to keep you on the edge of your seats. A simple act of a poverty-stricken person will haunt you for generations to come.

In a society where from an early age we are told, “health is wealth”, in reality, we rarely get to practice it in real-time. Most of the time the health that people ask you to take care of are all that can be seen or things that one shouldn’t be ashamed of. But what about the “Gupta Roga” (hidden illness)? Issues related to reproduction and illness related to the genitals are often kept hush-hush due to a lack of sex education. In a country like India with the highest number of people in the world, it is important that these issues are addressed as soon as possible. The short film Gupta Roga does just that but in a rather humorous way.

Gupta Roga: A Closer Look

A wholesomely humorous way to educate the masses, Gupta Roga ensures that it raises awareness about sex-related issues while not making anybody feel uncomfortable. Rather the film, Gupta Roga makes it a point to raise the issue about how critical issues related to sex are usually kept hidden to “save one’s face”, and questions the morality of such a sentiment as it often leads to the spread of misconceptions which may at times prove fatal.

Given how uncomfortable Indians or a conservative society often get at the thought of getting educated about something as intimate as genitals the film, Gupta Roga with its funny and innovative way managed to make the entire setting more palatable for people coming from such conservative upbringing. Touching subjects about how the birth and even sex of a child is not entirely the women’s fault to addressing misconceptions people harbour towards PCOS and conception, the film, Gupta Roga raises awareness about all the critical issues that currently plague the people of today. 

The acting of the main doctor could have been improved to make it seem more natural but overall the roles carried out by different actors portraying different characters that were plagued with illnesses were so natural and well done that they genuinely seemed like people who were in dire need of help. 

Afterword

There will always be certain illnesses that society may force you to hide or shame you for having. And that’s when art such as short films like Gupta Roga stepped in to change the narrative for good. A wholesome humorous film with a strong message makes Gupta Roga a must-watch.