Trapped in a vicious cycle of a series of repetitive household work. Women always have been confided in the patriarchal realm of being overlooked and neglected as a homemaker. The contribution is deemed insignificant compared to the breadwinner and a rigorous amount of labour is minimised to merely staying home and complying and indulging in an easy household as they always were supposed to do. A woman is stripped of all the rights to have some time to herself instead is often seen as disregarded and alone with no one to even confide in, to have a chance to express herself and the mere presence of someone who is listening. Times are changing and steps towards a shift in discourse are visible from ‘housewife’ to ‘housemaker.’ Evidently, Women do organise the private aspect of managing the entire household, acknowledged for presiding over the space. 

‘Ghar Ki Murgi’, portrays the finest depiction of a woman carrying a chaotic household to the minute detail almost blurring her own needs while indulging in it. A film by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari spectacular but simple glimpse of Seema’s life delivered effortlessly by Sakshi Tanwar. Seema is seen right from the beginning tending to all family members in a habitual cycle. Adjusting and shifting throughout the day according to their schedule. Preparing meals, dropping off kids, providing medication, massage and helping with technological needs to in-laws, working in a parlour, teaching her kids, managing the financial budget and reverting back to the same schedule again. 

Every single day, her presence remains so significant yet unacknowledged. Her sole confidant house maid seems the only person who understands her hectic work. A scene unfolds showing a pressure cooker and Seema describes a utensil has a better chance to explode when it’s under too much pressure than her. Sandeep, Seema’s husband played by Anurag Arora makes a humiliating comment in a session with his friends that Seema working at a parlour and making money sums up to nothing and would have no contribution towards the actual working of the house. This seems like the last straw and for the first time we see Seema standing her ground and putting herself first asking for a well-deserved break from doing chores which seems tiresome and still her worth is not considered. She decides on an independent vacation for herself to distance away from monotony. 

The entire family comes to terms with Seema’s selflessness and endurance. When her absence instigates them to think about how involved she is in every individual’s life. We see an emergence of the progressive chain of thoughts appreciating Seema as well as helping her to shrug some burden off her shoulder. The movie ends with the beautiful thought of not casting all burdens on Seema and cherishing her for who she is. 

The characters in the movie have excelled in invoking a perspective often disregarded. The simplicity and intricacy of cinematography drawn made the movie hit home and resonated with the audience. ‘ Ghar Ki Murgi’ is an eye opener to a pertinent rousing subject of unseen labour and notice as well as concedes to the fact women never should be undermined. The strength they possess in every sphere, they put their hearts and minds to results an impressive prominence. 

‘ Ghar Ki Murgi’ will definitely be worth your while for a good watch.

We are gradually losing sight of the simple joys that make life more beautiful in the age of costly restaurants and digital platforms. The unrealistic stories in the movies fill us with expectations and imagination, which drives us to take the priceless moments for granted. To celebrate these simple moments Chilsag pictures has produced an incredibly sweet movie “Dry Fruit Ka Halwa” written by Sachin Gupta and starring Shweta Tiwari and Rushad Rana which will make you smile and bring back joyous memories. 

The romantic comedy “Dry Fruit Ka Halwa” serves as a reminder of the amusing moments and nit-pickings that married couples share. The story begins with the wife dreaming about her husband preparing her favourite dessert, dry fruit ka halwa as a token of love and appreciation for always taking care of him. She is unexpectedly brought back to reality when her husband wakes her up demanding breakfast and clothes before heading off to work in the morning. The casual argument over this escalates into a cute fight and blame game and the background music impeccably signifies that the love that blooms out of such little arguments adds meaning to life. 

The actors have fantastic on-screen chemistry and the movie’s script, created by Sachin Gupta, is incredibly relatable. The movie portrays how arguments and “roothna manana” become a part of our lives and add richness to them, much like the sweet dry fruit ka halwa. No matter how much you fight, in the end, you will always have each other. The 8-minute film is a feel-good and very simple movie that subtly depicts that true love is disguised in every second that we share. It also serves as a reminder to value the efforts put in by our beloved. The movie will make you fall in love with the little hogwash quarrels that you share with your partner.

A startling depiction of the deprivation of basic ailments that the slums of Mumbai continue to face is generally overshadowed by the glitz and glamour of the city. A result of negligence by powering flyovers that conceal the troubles that still breed amongst the financially marginalised people who continue to live in poverty-stricken conditions. 

‘Good Morning Mumbai!’, a student-directed film by Rajesh Thakare and Troy Vasanth from National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad presents a critical stance outlining the realities of overpopulation, settlements and sanitation faced by masses who strive to make ends meet while being deprived of basic human need, ignored by authorities responsible to provide. 

The film opens with the background voice of popular radio FM encouraging people to come forward and share their daily life experiences while people travelling in trains repulse and cover their nose. The chaotic urban middle-class setting changes to deafening noisy extremely overcrowded ill maintained slums showing a glimpse of the repetitive daily routine Pandu undergoes. 

Navigating and rushing out towards hassling swarm of people arguing to collect water, he manages to steal some in his tumbler and rushes towards the public toilet. Particularly discomforted he patiently has to wait in a queue to access the inadequate facility. He struggles and loses his chance to use the toilet threatened by a local goon preventing him to do so. Screen blacks to radio jockey blatantly being insensitive and ignoring a comment about providing a better sanitary toiled facility.

Pandu eventually ends up on railway track defecating out in open with different another set of Pandus doing the same while multiple trains pass in flash, people in it pinching their noses. 

The animation combined with real-life storytelling and striking portrayal of image of spaces and condition, channeled emotions and voiceover leave the audience with a reflective and critical perspective to look beyond what surrounds us and focus on the deprivation people go through that are humanly unacceptable. 

A draining congested hustle that people like Pandu have to live through with no help. Completely ignored by authorities who fail to act towards the grassroots level of problems instead direct more investment to visible developments. Creates an enlarging disparity that is hard to fill if the complications now are deliberately looked over. Equality for all should be acted upon in dealing with ailing amenities that the film encounters. 

The movie truly is mind-altering instigating the viewers to think about the chain of cycle people have been and still continue to live in and are bound with. These concerning issues are still to be resolved while the Mumbai celebrates and upraises flags of victory in relevance to other acknowledgeable developments. 

What others think of our life, our performance, of us is the most important question that matters the most to human beings. The whole existence is sometimes dedicated to establishing a life that seems fit or normal from the social perspective, an outlook that makes us socially acceptable and loved. The advent of social media made it even worse as it feeds into the need for constant validation to build a confident self. The likes, the hearts, and the shares can give you skyrocketing confidence and ground-thrashing anxiety in a couple of minutes. 

The short film “What did you think?” tries to showcase this thought process through a simple story of some theatrical actors, for whom the validation of others on their performance is a daily need and a natural question. The question does not elude even the most experienced actors; they are ready to take the validation of amateurs to feel superior, happy, and confident. 

The short film gives just one instance of this behaviour of human beings, and if we press real hard on our minds, we will find that we seek validation from others in the smallest of things. Whether it is clothes, cars, education, job, friends or marriage, it matters what opinions others have of us. We are all ears to what others have to say at all times. 

Published by the Bandra Film Festival, the writer tries to give this vital message on insecurities and constant self-validation through subtle sarcasm and comedy. Watching the short film is more like an awakening, an observation, as sometimes we do see the problem but hardly perceive or absorb it. The short film highlights the problem and leaves it to the discretion of the viewer to connect to it in their way and works toward their insecurities. 

If we were to describe every city by the kind of vibe it gives, Mumbai surely would fall into the category of cities with the strongest energetic aura. You can feel the action happening the moment you land in the city; after all, it is not for no reason that the city is often considered the one that never sleeps. 

Whether it is the crowd, the food, the hustling and bustling of the trains, traffic, Dabba wallas, or the entertainment industry, the city is always moving. It is not to say that Mumbai doesn’t have problems; the high migration rates and heavy rains during the monsoon that takes over the city every year poses a significant resistance to this highly dynamic city, but it is the attitude of Mumbai with an average sea level of only 14 m, that once the water is gone, everything is back in action again with same energy and motivation.

However, when covid knocked, and everything came to a standstill and questions were raised about its ability to rise again. The city went into a strict lockdown, and the sound of the ambulance echoed all around the city. The suffering was quite apparent. Will Mumbai rise again? Is Mumbai Tired? Has it given up?

We all know what happened, the city roared once more, and it was possible only because of the rigorous efforts put in by the covid warriors. Together Mumbaikars did it again, and this is what the short film Mumbai mood is about; coming out in the year 2020, when the lockdown was still in force, the film motivated and encouraged Mumbaikar that we would rise again, but this time more slowly, consciously and carefully. 

On the creative front, the music in the background by Prasanth Srinivas, the narration in Marathi by Sarang Sathaye, and the graphics by Sharanya Menon and Saloni Basrur takes the heart away and introduce the city in its most accurate and authentic form. In a short span of three minutes, the short film can trigger thousand of emotions in the viewer’s head; it will make you laugh, and cry and most of all will put you in the Mumbai mood- a highly spirited one. Above all, watch this short film for the amazing work of art that it is in itself.