The Perfect Match ★★★½

A Couple’s ship of love and dating hits the iceberg of Indian arrange marriage. what happens next?

Synopsis

The Perfect Match is the story of hurdles in ‘arranging’ a love marriage. The short film depicts a couple (Riya and Harsh) who has decided to tie a knot. Had it been a western society, they might be planning the wedding location and dates. But in traditional Indian societies, there are a few more steps involved!

This sweet short film elaborates on one of Horoscope matching. While doing so, it also does great job at depicting few amusing character traits of Harsh and Riya.

What works

First and foremost,The Perfect Match excels on its focused execution of the topic of Horoscope matching. Generally such films have tendency to get mixed up with all sorts of issues like caste, religion etc. Accordingly, they deliver on the issues, but totally kill the characters. Worse, they do not give the audience to focus on any one situation and the characters’ stances.

Another great work is the dialogue exchange between Harsh and Riya. The dialogues deliver everything dialogues are supposed to be. In The Perfect Match, the conversations tell us the back story, the current states of mind, as well the ongoing state of affairs. To the credit of writer-director Neha Pawar, most of the dialogues still flow very naturally.

But nothing would matter if the actors are bad. Luckily, the actors The Perfect Match, Ashwani and Kalyani put up a great show together. Least to say, their on-screen chemistry shines through the short film.

Last but most importantly, this short film captures the minutest nuisances of the relationship between a girl-friend and boy-friend. Smallest details on nature, egos, actions and expectations are so marvelously captured!

What could have been better

Some of the dialogues and actions by the leads seem too dramatic and artificial. They are not many, but they are there. If it was an average or a bad movie, these situations would not even be noticeable. Since the overall movie is so great, they appear little out of place. Nothing major, though!

Verdict

Overall The Perfect Match is a perfect sweet little short film which must be watched!

AglaPlay Verdict: A must watch, sweet, situational Rom-Com
AglaPlay Rating: 3.5/5
Language: Hindi / English
Duration: ~8 minutes
Writer-Director:  Neha Pawar
Cast: Ashwani Kumar,
Kalyani Pandit

Click here for our Short-Film Recommendations !

Silent Ties ★★

A story of brother-sister ties in a little non-conventional setting.

Synopsis

Silent Ties tells the story of a brother-sister relationship. At the same time, this short film tries to touch upon the perception of transgenders in the country. In this short film, the younger brother is a transgender dancer. Her elder sister (seems) to be the only person who has supported him through all these years. Naturally, they share a very closely knit relation. However, the elder sister also has to be answerable to the society at some time. And, that time has now come with the very public recognition of her brother. What will she do?

What works

The short film touches upon two emotional topics. One, the bond of siblings, and another, the society’s stance on transgenders. Since both are very relevant and oft-talked about topic, the audience can understand the content easily. Silent Ties may also resonate with audience on another psychological level of pursuing one’s hobby. Audience may relate to these touch-points very easily.

What could have been better

As said earlier, the audience would be able to connect to the content very easily. However, the connection won’t last for long because of borderline bad screenplay. The scenes jump from one to another without any logical flow.

While I do not want to put any spoilers here in the review, you will be able to see once you watch Silent Ties. In our opinion, the transformation of scenes are forcibly made to fit to the story. The screenplay creates a new bottom with the phone call made to the protagonist by his secretary.

Partly due to the above problems, the actors also fail to inspire. The characters feel too mercurial to feel real.

Particularly, the character of Renuka Shahane is made too unpredictable and unsure of what she really wants.

Lastly, the dialogues are too weak to create any impact.

Verdict

To sum up, Silent Ties is a horrible execution of noble intentions. Avoid and save your eight minutes!

AglaPlay Verdict: Avoid
AglaPlay Rating: 2.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~8 minutes
Writer-Director:  Sai Deodhar
Cast: Renuka Shahane,
Palash Dutta

Click here for our Short-Film Recommendations !

Exchange Offer ★★★★

A retired school principal accepts an exchange offer of his old personal computer, bringing several other changes as well.

Synopsis

Shiv Kumar Pant is a retired school principal living a lonely life in Delhi. He has lost his wife, while the son lives in California. Shiv is a loner by design, and he rebuffs any attempt of socialization. Consequently, he has very little contact with his relatives except his son. Moreover, Shiv is unappreciative of any changes in life!

However, destiny has other plans! One fine day, Shiv’s 16-year old computer breaks down. During these sixteen long years, technologies have changed a lot and the repair is not possible. As a result, Shiv agrees for the replacement with a newer computer. Only if he knew what other changes will this single exchange will bring…

What works

The character development of the central character is among the best we have seen in recent times. The director has not rushed through scenes. Ample time and space is given to the character of Shiv Kumar Pant to grow. Every feature of the character is brought out delicately. We connected with Raina as Shiv as a strict disciplinarian, a lonely widower and a hobbyist.

Even the non-central characters of son and house-help are developed well. We get to know about Bisveswar by his comic ranting. Facial expressions of Aryan in role of helpless son deserve an appreciation.

Story is very well-thought, accompanied by a very effective screenplay and editing. The film picks up finer facets in the lives of the characters and deliver them very beautifully, one at a time. All the messages, including the central message which is displayed at the end of the short film is delivered at a perfect pace.

What could have been better

Call me a fault-finder, but ‘Amit’ feels schemed and artificial in many scenes. It may be director’s hint to the climax, but we feel otherwise. In our opinion, Taher could have done a much better ‘Amit’.

Another minor drawback is the last scene of the film. Except for the climatic end, the whole movie is very realistic. A simple climax would have seemed logically and aesthetically ordered. Instead we get a larger-than-life climax focusing on just two characters. That was out-of-sync to us.

Verdict

Exchange Offer is almost a masterpiece. Even with its few passable nuisances, it is a very good short.

AglaPlay Verdict: Do watch!
AglaPlay Rating: 4.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~29 minutes
Writer: Saunak Mitra
Director:  Saunak Mitra
Cast: M K Raina (Shiv Pant),
Taher Shabbir (Amit Kulkarni),
Surendra Ranjan (Bisveswar),
Aryan Roy(Rishabh Pant) &
Others
Exchange Offer: A very good one

Bharam ★★★

A comedy of prejudices starts when Janaki wins a Mercedes but everyone loses with their assessments of other.

Synopsis: There is a person who is standing at Janaki Paul’s door. He has supposedly come to deliver Mercedes car which Janaki won in some lucky draw, but Janaki’s maid won’t let him in nor will allow him to talk to her employer. But this guy is equally stubborn… What is the catch? Why are they behaving so stubbornly and illogically?

What Works: The biggest strength of this short is its length. The director manages to tell the whole story in meager six minutes if we ignore the credits. I appreciate the whole team which stuck to a really short story and gave it just enough time for the characters and situations to sink-in.

The story also aces the test of time. The prejudices brought up by the story are very relevant to today’s world. Most of the audience would connect with the characters’ feeling and judgements. The actions, well, they are exaggerated! But then, how will comic and scare will come up in otherwise everyday story?

Areas of improvement: For the corporate workers out there, yes, I have taken this phrase straight out of my annual appraisal. In case you ask, my manager just couldn’t find anyhthing to fill in this section – I AM PERFECTO! 🙂 Okay, just kidding! Serious now, the issue with the short is its predcitbility. On the first scene itself you will have some idea where the film will move to. Apart from that, nothing much. And please note, it is still enjoyable short break from our mundane lives!

Verdict: A one-time watch!

AglaPlay Verdict: One time watch
AglaPlay Rating: 3.0/5
Language: Hindi / English
Duration: ~6 minutes
Writer: Shieladitya Moulik
Director:  Shieladitya Moulik
Cast: Anuradha Mukherjee
Kan Singh Sodha
Bharam: A 6-minutes long short film

Girl in Red / Gutthi ★★½

Lives of a writer, a garbage collector and a girl are intertwined and lead to an atrocious crime.

Why the slash (/) : Today we are writing the review of two short films who are essentially same vodka in different bottles. We thought to bring these two together, discuss their respective strengths and let the reader decide!

Synopsis: There is an author who wants to write a thriller, but has hit writer-block. He is not able to spin anything new. In this anxiety, his attention turns towards his building’s dustman who also runs all kinds of odd jobs including delivering weed to the flat owners. This dustman is also borderline pervert and skims through all the waste items people throw out, in turn getting evidences of all the gossips of the building. While they bond over marijuana-puffs, the author talks about a girl who was murdered brutally. Is anything common between these three characters?

Story and Screenplay review: The story is not bad. It is just not great, either. Perhaps it is also the treatment of the story that borders on tough to believe scenario. Some vital pieces of the puzzle are also missing, and at times are in contradiction to each other. Screenplay is jumpy at times and especially for ‘Girl in Red‘ version, misses some important scenes which provide justifications to WHYs.

What works for Girl in Red (GIR): Between the two versions, GIR is the newer one, with latest editing, clearly has higher budget and much higher viewership. This is the ‘urbane’ version, and looks pleasant due to better quality (costlier) equipment and setup. Narrative by protagonist sounds better. The language is closer to the normal, north Indian Hindi.

What we didn’t like in GIR: Too many expletives and obscene words without any need. Most of the times they do not even suit the context. Some modifications that are made from earlier version Gutthi are ridiculous and unconvincing. The actors almost look like models which makes the short further contrived.

What works for Gutthi: Gutthi, the original older version is overall much more realistic and credible. There are hardly a few loopholes and the flow is more justified. The actors are suited to the role. Simple faces, day-to-day attires. Even the libraries and the flats look close to the life of an author. This is our preferred version.

What we didn’t like in Gutthi: Practically everything that we liked in GIR. Everything that money can buy – the look, the picture quality etc. Gutthi has that old, low budget camera look, has grainy video and the special effects are basic. It is also ten minutes longer than GIR.

Verdict: Overall an average, the story is worth a watch with all its loopholes. We liked Gutthi version more its more credible story telling, but GIR version is newer and it just the better-looking version! You choose!

AglaPlay Verdict: Average
AglaPlay Rating: 2.5/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~17 minutes (GIR), ~27 minutes (Gutthi)
Writer: Abhishek Chatterjee
Director:  Saurabh Varma (GIR) / Abhishek Chatterjee (Gutthi)
Cast: 
Cast of GIR: Nandish Singh, 
Rohit Khurana, 
Nazia Davison  
Cast of Gutthi:
Rathna Shekar Reddy, 
Choeeta Chakrabarti, 
Naren Yadav
Girl in Red: Click to play
Gutthi: Click to play