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)