Welcome to yet another self quarantined weekend! Ever since the news of novel coronavirus broke out we are under lockdown and since then weekdays and weekends have become the same. Its been over a month since we are all maintaining social distancing. Like every weekend we scroll through our news feeds, social media apps and look for movies to watch. These days all of us are following quarantine and chill by no choice. But you have various film and web shows to watch across OTT platforms. Here are six new short films which are barely 20 minutes but will give you the right amount of content and a reason to watch all of these in one go.
International Business Times brings a review of six short films that were released this week on Zee5. For all the cinema lovers, the film fest explores an array of genres from love, drama, thriller, comedy, and family. Starring the likes of actors including Naseeruddin Shah, Vikrant Massey, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajeev Khandelwal, Sumeet Raghvan, and others. These films touch upon human emotions and will surely touch the chords of your heart.
Film: Season's Greeting's
Director: Ram Kamal Mukherjee
Cast: Celina Jaitley and Lillette Dubey
Stars: 3
Based in Kolkata, 'Seasons Greetings' talks about a mother-daughter relationship. The story has many wraps to unfold, starring Celina Jaitley and Lillette Dubey in lead roles. The author turned filmmaker Ram Kamal Mukherjee's Hindi feature film is a Tribute to Rituparno Ghosh that touches upon human emotions, interwoven with many contemporary social aspects which one needs to address. being Celina's digital debut she comes back with a bang and needless to say she looks as fresh as a daisy. Having an actor as powerful as Lilette Dubey, both of them set the screen ablaze with their chemistry. The human emotions that a mother and daughter share is not the usual ones that we see. Ram has yet again weaved magic with his storytelling and casting.
Film: Heartbeat
Director: Manu Chobe
Starcast: Rajeev Khandelwal and Anupriya Goenka
Stars: 4
Directed by Manu Chobe, the twenty minutes short features only two artists in its entire duration. It increases the responsibility on the actors, Rajeev Khandelwal and Anupriya Goenka essay their parts well and look compelling as ever. As husband and wife. Talking about the narrative, squadron leader Abhimanyu Singh (Rajeev Khandelwal) is in a coma for the past three years after he meets with an accident. The film is about his wife, Saanvi Jain (Anupriya Goenka) who is still in hope for a miracle. She is battling with her inner-self (projected as the soul of her husband) to let go of the emotional attachment. Only by letting go could she become free of her thoughts. The film deals with the topic of Euthanasia very sensitively and explores how Saanvi has to make the worst decision of her life - either to make her brain-dead husband suffer more or set him free by pressing a button.
Film: Half full
Director: Karan Rawal
Cast: Vikrant Massey and Naseeruddin Shah
Stars: 3.5
Directed by Karan Rawal 'Half Full' stars Vikrant Massey and Naseeruddin Shah revolves around two men having contrasting attitudes coming from two different worlds, but are headed towards the same vertex. Naseer and Vikrant are truly screen stealer and one simply cannot miss this amazing chemistry on-screen. Its a delight to see both of them sharing screen space together.
Film: Strawberry Shake
Directed: Shoneel Yallattikar
Cast: Sumit Raghavan and Hruta Durgule
Stars: 3
A new coming of age drama titled 'Strawberry Shake' is about a single father who tells his 19-year-old daughter to treat him as a friend but things go wrong when she brings her boyfriend home, creating an awkward situation for her father. Directed by Shoneel Yallattikar, Starring Sumit Raghavan and Hruta Durgule. The father-daughter duo is too cute to be missed. Sumeet as a protective yet concerned father is what most of the daughter has dealt with! A sweet yet endearing tale to watch.
Film: Ateet
Director: Tanuj Bhramar
Cast: Priyamani Raj, Rajeev Khandelwal and Sanjay Suri
Stars: 3.5
Captain Ateet Rana (Rajeev Khandelwal) goes missing and is declared dead by the army, his colleague Vishwa Karma (Sanjay Suri) steps forward to marry Ateet's wife Janvi (Priyamani Raj) and takes care of his daughter. Things take an unexpected turn when Ateet returns after a decade to reclaim his family. Once again, the actors have aced their acting game and look convincing in their roles. Rajeev Khandelwal outshines with his stellar performance yet again.
Film: Svah! So be it
Director: Gauri Daswani
Cast: Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur and Shilpa Tulaskar
Stars: 3
'Svah! So be it' is a family drama of a girl wanting to get married facing the most bizarre hurdle ever. Starring Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rajit Kapur, and Shilpa Tulaskar the film showcases a perfect blend of emotions. Every actor in a span of 12 minutes has done so well. The message has been put forth in a very subtle manner. Shriya's expression says it all in the last few minutes of the film. So beautiful yet hard-hitting.
In the end, all these films not just entertain us but also shows us the mirror of society. Many of us overlook it, but the truth lies here. There are many issues and cases which we seldom see, hear but don't want to accept it.
These films are relatable and are very much prevalent in our society.
