Introduction –
Zindagi in Short is a creative basket of 7 short films. It covers a gamut of themes, ranging from innocent romance to marital rape, from medical professionals harsh, uncompromising life to infidelities of various types. However, Pinni ( 17 minutes – Neena Gupta & Shishir Sharma ) falls into a distinct genre where a housewife who looks after the needs of everyone around her finds herself all alone on her own birthday. She adopts a unique way to stop family and friends take her for granted.
Except for Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle you can skip most of the other shorts as they have little to offer in terms of entertainment, message or creative fireworks. This review will therefore focus mainly on the said short film. Nonetheless, mentioned below is the list of episodes vis-à-vis Zindagi in Short.
Sleeping Partner – This 23 minute film is about a housewife’s struggle against her sexually abusive husband, and later confronts an opportunist feigning to be her savior.
Sunny Side Upar – 18 minutes is not enough to experience the life of a busy surgeon ( Rima Kallingal as Dr Kavya Menon ), working double shift in a star hospital and sacrificing her personal goals and aspirations including love. But then, everything changes one day when a close family member is diagnosed with cancer.
Nano So Phobia – We saw Swaroop Sampat after a long time. She shines with her performance in this 12 minute shorts revolving around dementia / phobia. Watch the climax. Sure to give you goose bumps.
Thappad – Story of a young lad, who inspired by his favorite comic book finds a way to confront bullies who are harassing his sister. This 17 minute short film is set in a village.
Swaaha – The last on the list is a 17 minute cinema revolving around the infidelity triggered by a funny rumor, and spread by young Baratis. Isha Talwar has done full justice to the character with her explicit and expressive gestures.
Synopsis – Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle
An innocent love story which jerks to life when Amrik ( Manjot Singh ), a Ragi in a Gurudwara, and a college student meets Amreen ( Aisha Ahmed ), a Muslim girl on a dating site. Although they belong to different religions there is this uninhibited bond developing between them. Days later, Amrik proposes that its time they met. The rendezvous place suggested by Amrik is a popular Chaat Centre called “Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle”. Amreen is thrilled because even she feels that coffee shop and other hangouts are too cliché, and meeting up over a plate of Dahi Balle is without doubt super cool.
Next day, Amrik arrives at Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle shop. On the other side Amreen too loiters near the proposed place. Gradually, the camera focuses on the hoarding, the signboard hung above. While one says Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle, Lahore, the other reads Chhaju Ke Dahi Bhalle, Amritsar. Amused by the twist of events and fate’s cruel joke they decide to meet at Wagah border to fulfill their wish.
Analysis –
We won’t analyze this anthology critically but mention few peeves and admiration. Performances of most of the lead actors is passable, and nothing to rave about. It is the direction and cinematography which we feel could have been improvised, to enhance and accommodate some of the script weaknesses. An appropriate background score could have made viewing a little more gratifying while the shot composition in Sleeping Partner and Swaaha ruined some of the impact. Overall, Zindagi in Short has just about managed to get past our tough selection process.
2021 Gautam Govind Sharma Geeta Agrawal Sharma 110 Minutes Netflix