Shorts

I don't know how I came across this movie. Don't remember where I read about it- one of the reviews or blogs or twitter. But few days back I marked this on youtube and watched it today.
The movie is like a collection of short stories in one book. How I miss reading short stories. Haven't really read many since school. 


The movie has been produced by Anurag Kashyap and Tumbhi. 
Below are the 5 stories:

1) Sujata : Directed by Shlok Sharma. Starring Huma Qureshi, Shweta Tripathi, Satya Anand and Aditya Kumar.
A teenage girl is left with her aunt by her parents since they are going through financial troubles. Her cousin brother starts eyeing her sexually and harassing her. Even when she is grown up, he starts beating her up and she is too scared to leave. She seeks the help of a cop and NGOs but they ask her to sort out her own domestic troubles. She starts changing identities and shifting cities to escape the cousin but he ends up finding her. When he finds her again, she decides to end the harassment once and for all. 
Great one. Huma is too good. 

2) Epilogue : Directed by Siddharth Gupt. Starring Richa Chadha and Arjun Shrivastav
This film has no dialogues at all. It is experimental and bizarre. It depicts a relationship - the initial attraction, intimacy, possessiveness, claustrophobia and then the end. I didn't understand this one completely but am glad filmmakers are trying something new. Not everyone has to get everything. Even if 10% of the audience gets this one, it's good enough. Though I will always remember this kind of a movie.

3) Audacity: Directed by Anirban Roy. Starring Preeti Singh, Sankar Debnath and Kanchan Mullick.
This film is in Bengali but has subtitles. The language does not diminish the enjoyment of this movie at all. It is about a 13 year old daughter whose father admonishes her for listening to American pop music at loud volume. Like any 13 year old, she argues with him and questions him about his drinking. He, of course, like a normal Indian parent grounds her for being rude. 
She plans revenge and what a sweet revenge it is. One that her parents will remember forever. Hilarious one.

4) Mehfuz : Directed by Rohit Pandey. Starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Aditi Khanna.
It is set in a different time when there is a lot of violence. Nawaz is responsible for burning the dead bodies. His life is dark and lonely. He comes across a strange female roaming around on the streets. He keeps watching her. Few days later he has to burn her dead body.
This film made least sense to me. I understood the part about the loneliness and how Nawaz felt when he gets to touch the female even though she is dead. But something was missing. 

5) Shor : Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan. Starring Vineet Singh and Ratnabali Bhattacharjee
Lallan and Meena are a couple from Benaras who got married against Lallan's mother's wishes. They live in a chawl in Mumbai and struggle like everyone else. Lallan lost his job at the factory and has been trying to get a loan for an auto rickshaw. He does no work and Meena is the sole breadwinner. Meena also takes care of their son, cooks, cleans and works overtime. 
Meena is perfect, isn't she? But this is India... so Lallan suspects her work, abuses her and does not appreciate her efforts. While his mother cribs about Meena to her son all the time. 
Their love becomes apparent when Lallan comes face to face with death. And he realizes his folly.
Pretty good. It's a pleasure to see Vineet Singh again. Love this guy.

All in all, great flick. Worth a watch once. Specially if you crave for arty cinema. Very good effort.