Harmless ★★★

A girl, looking for thrills, agrees to be kidnapped in a staged kidnapping. This is nothing but a little harmless crime, or isn’t it?

Synopsis

Harmless is a about a girl who is looking for a small adventure trip. She chooses to participate in a staged kidnapping to earn some quick bucks. After all, it is a harmless little crime, with no loss to anyone! The how and what are shown in this short comic-thriller.

What works

Harmless has some of the most unpredictable characters! This adds the elements of mystery as well as (dark) humor. While I won’t spill all the beans, think about a girl who willingly gets kidnapped to get her money from her father! A perfectly nice, working guy who chooses kidnapping to make quick bucks! And so on and on…

Harmless also has some of the good acting. Combine with volatile characters and situations, the quirky acting makes this short film real fun to watch!

In fact, the overall package of Harmless is well-done where it will appeal to the viewers who are looking for a quick distraction from the ordinary!

What could have been better

One can argue that the story is just too uncertain and the characters are too artificial. Honestly, even I believe that meeting such characters in real life is tough, if not impossible. But then, Harmless was designed to be this way.

I would rather point out that the story is too straight-flowing without any major twists and one particular piece seems just too fake!

Verdict

Harmless is no classic, but it is a refreshing change and comic in its own ways. And so, it is definitely worth a watch!

AglaPlay Verdict: Do watch!
AglaPlay Rating: 3.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~18 minutes
Writer-Director: Vishesh Mankal
Cast: Vaishnavi Rao, 
Anirudda Khanwilkar,
Goswami, 
Swapnil Ajgaonkar, and
Sachin Singh Khushawa

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Baalak ★

A woman’s reaction to an incidence leaves her feeling empty and sad.

Synopsis

Baalak is about a woman going to a new city for job. The short film depicts one incidence that happens to her at the hotel. The incidence, rather her response to the incidence leaves her feeling guilty and incriminated. What was the incidence and why did it have such an impact on her?

What works

Baalak has good camera-work and photography. Make-up and wardrobe departments have also done well in this short film.

What could have been better

Plenty could have been done much better in Baalak.

To start with, a large proportion of the film has nothing to do with story. In fact, one could have skipped more than half of the film to jump directly to 06:30 on YouTube. The movie would still have remained almost the same! My question: why to add so many useless details like checking in the hotel, getting off the cab and all?

Further, anyone could have acted better than the lead. Suchismita Bar made me cry with her crying expression – not because it was that good, but because it was that bad! The whole short-film hinged may be at this single scene only and this scene could not have been done worse! To be fair, all other actors have performed decently, except Ms. Bar.

Sadly, the story and screenplay also do not help much. With so many extra scenes added and a very average story, Baalak falls flat on its face.

As if all of this was not enough, the amateurish attempt (not sure if planned or unplanned) to add a flavor or mystery and women-safety is wrongly placed and should not be in drama of this genre. However, that is something that few of the audience may like as well, so, that’s alright!

Verdict

Baalak is to be avoided. Period.

AglaPlay Verdict: Avoid at all costs
AglaPlay Rating: 1.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~13 minutes
Writer-Director: Kan Singh Sodha
Cast: Suchismita Bar, 
Samontak Dyuti Maitra, 
Jon, Rumi Dhar &
Others

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Chhoti Si Baat ★★

The short film about a couple tells how a small doubt can create havoc in relationships if left unchecked.

Synopsis

Chhoti Si Baat is a short drama film about a husband and wife. The couple had a love-marriage and the parents agreed only after some resistance. Fast-forward to today however, things are not very fine. There is something that is worrying Neeru (wife). The black and white short film explores her fears, her actions and the reality.

What works

Chhoti Si Baat has a good story. The small things which translates into something much bigger inside the canals of our imaginations is well represented in the story. It is sad, though, that the other departments fail to do justice to this good story-line.

Amrita Paul in the lead role of Neeru also does a good job in Chhoti Si Baat. While we cannot state it to be the best of the performances, it is surely decent enough to pull the audience through 26 minutes. Amrita seems genuine and fits in the character both visually and by performance.

What could have been better

Direction is the very first thing that comes to me when we have to point one, almost fatal, flaw in the Chhoti Si Baat. Despite decent story and lead, the movie fails to create the impact it could have under good direction. Many scenes seem loose and amateur.

Monochromatic camera also was neither required, nor is it done well. At the best, it fails to add any value. At the worst, it becomes irritating. In fact, in low light scene, Chooti Si Baat simply ignores black-and-white narrative and jumps to color shot!

With a weak direction and black-and-white camerawork, Chhoti Si Baat also feels much longer than the length of 26 minutes.

Verdict

With all its flaws, I would categorize Chhoti Si Baat as avoidable. If only it was shorter in length, I might have put it up as average or one time watch, but…

AglaPlay Verdict: Avoid
AglaPlay Rating: 2.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~26 minutes
Writer-Director: Aryan Singh
Cast: Amrita Pal (Neeru), 
Basant Kumar (Arun),
Sumit Kumar (Sandeep), &
Mrs. Ghazala Iqbal (Neeru's mother, Audio only)
Chhoti Si Baat: Black and white, 26 minutes long short about a couple

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Budh (Awakening) ★★★½

Awakening of three women from different age-group, religion, society and situation!

Synopsis

Budh is a story of three women from different strata of the society. The short film depicts the atrocities brought upon women by men in different ways. Hindu widow Laxmi in remote north Indian village, Muslim housewife Zainab in a town and young christian Yvonne in a city are as different in lifestyle, age and aspirations as can be, yet they all face the tyranny in their own way. Until, finally, they stand up for themselves.

What works

Budh feels very authentic. Especially the opening scenes of north Indian village with Laxmi is done extremely well.

Budh also has great performances. Almost all actors do a very good job in their roles.

But the authenticity of setup and the performances would not have meant a thing if it was not for the hard-hitting story of the Budh. Combining three entirely different backgrounds with one common theme is a good work that is done by the Budh team.

Detailing of the situation and the characters is yet another parameter where the short film does a good job.

What could have been better

Budh is an amazing film. However, if I had to pick out things which could have been done better, I would pick out two in particular.

One, the character of the Yvonne depicting the break-up. To clarify, it is pretty serious and I am in no way underplaying the trauma and the male chauvinism at play here. Yet, this story somehow feels much weaker than the other two. I wonder if a better story could have been selected or it could have been strengthen a little more.

Two, it is Richa Meena accent which does not fit her character at all. The scene involving the outburst of Laxmi could easily have been the strongest moment in Budh. Sadly, it just loses almost all its impact due to complete mismatch of the accent/language.

Verdict

Budh is definitely worth a watch. Though in my opinion, it could have been a much stronger and much more stirring than what it is!

AglaPlay Verdict: Worth a watch
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~16 minutes
Writer-Director: Prashant Ingole
Cast: Richa Meena (Laxmi),
Geetanjali Mishra (Zainab),
Sabina Jat (Yvonne) &
Others
Budh (Awakening): Awakening of 3 women from different strata of society

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Recipe ★★★

A thriller short telling the story of one night in a live-in couple’s life.

Synopsis

Recipe is a thriller about a live-in couple. Adopted from Roald Dahl’s Lamb to the Slaughter, the short film is modernized to give contemporary contexts. The girl is pregnant with the guy’s child, and she is also very serious about the relationship. Naturally, she wants to marry the guy who has different opinions. What happens next is hinted at in this short suspense thriller.

What works

In comparatively very-short role, Shalin Thakur makes his mark in Recipe. Even with very few dialogues for his namesake character, the irritation and agitation looks very real.

What could have been better

While Recipe has a good story from Roald Dahl’s classic, it could have simply been much better if the whole story was adopted. Particularly the end of Roald’s original is much more impactful than the Recipe’s. May be it is my bias towards original, but I feel that the original story with very slight changes and reordering would have been more relevant than this short film.

Partly because of the bias too, I did not like that the original work is not at all credited in the credits.

Verdict

Recipe is a decent watch, it is just that it could have been much better in my opinion.

AglaPlay Verdict: Average, one time watch
AglaPlay Rating: 3.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~8 minutes
Writer:Shoyeb Shaikh, adapted (not credited) from Lamb to the Slaughter written by Roald Dahl
Director: Shoyeb Shaikh
Cast: Shalin Thakur (Shalin), 
Sania Chaudhari (Sania) &
Others
Recipe: A Thriller Involving a Live-in Couple

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