 "Keeping it short")
A couple of years ago, film maker Devashish Makhija made a one-minute short film, Rahim Murge Pe Mat Ro. Not a soul heard of the film in the country, yet it went on to become a cult hit in Europe, even screening on a loop for a month at the MOMA.
Meanwhile, Makhija, while waiting for his feature films to get off the ground, got busy with graphic art, writing children's books and short stories. "And suddenly, in late 2014, there was a burst of people wanting to make content to release online. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, but when Terribly Tiny Talkies asked me if I had a short film to make, I jumped at the chance," he says.
Makhija ended up making four short films in 2015 alone. El'ayichi, starring Nimrat Kaur and Divyendu Sharma, was released in February last year and was a runaway online success with 283,636 views to date.
And then, in July, Ahalya happened. The Radhika Apte-Soumitra Chatterjee starrer, directed by Sujoy Ghosh of Kahaani fame, was a game changer. Not only did it go viral on the social media, but it also garnered 5 million views on YouTube - unprecedented response for a short film.
It made the Indian film industry sit up and take notice of short films, released online, as a medium to tell gripping stories. "Shorter attention spans, the function of the mobile phone as the main screen for most people and better connectivity have added to this trend," film critic Mayank Shekhar says. "The short film format works perfect for the online, mobile platform. It's no wonder then that every major production house is becoming involved in this genre, be it Yash Raj Films or Balaji."
Earlier this year, Y-Films, a subsidiary of Yash Raj Films, announced an anthology of six short love stories, Love Shots, with each film to be released online once a week March 8 onwards. The first of these, the 10-minute-long Road Trip, starring Nimrat Kaur and Tahir Raj Bhasin, became a blockbuster with 758,000 views. The second, starring Saqib Saleem and Shweta Tripathi of Masaan fame, was released this Tuesday and has already got 166,999 views.
Another short film that created a buzz online was Taandav starring Manoj Bajpayee, released in February, produced by Muvizz.com and directed by Makhija. This 11.10-minute film got a whopping 1.05 million views. Another one creating waves is the 20-minute silent film, The Right Note, featuring Swara Bhaskar and Tiku Tulsania, about two strangers who meet in a cab.
Proof of their mainstreaming is the readiness of established actors like Bajpayee, Apte, Bhaskar, Richa Chadda and Aditi Rao Hydari to do such films.
What's changed is the reach of the genre to the audience. "There was a time when shorts were considered a launchpad for directors. But now the digital space has exploded and that's why there is an increase in demand for such films," says Guneet Monga, the co-founder of Sikhya Entertainment. Monga has just produced a short film directed by Anubhuti Kashyap [Anurag Kashyap's sister], titled Call Waiting.
In her opinion, the turning point is also the fact that financers are willing to back directors and production houses to experiment with this genre. So you have Royal Stag as the force behind Large Short Films, a platform for this genre. At Y-Films too, sponsors like Bharti Airtel have backed Love Shots. "When partners like Airtel come in and put in money where the mouth is, it gives us confidence to be creative," says Ashish Patil, vice-president (Y-Films, brand partnerships and talent management), Yash Raj Films.
Shorts have also emerged as a playground for directors and actors to experiment and unleash their creativity. "Bigger names - from directors to actors - make short films ONLY because of the artistic freedom it allows them," says Makhija.
What also helps is, unlike feature films, which are burdened by audience expectation, the short films are approached by the viewers with a blank mind. "A lot of experimentation with structure is not only allowed for by the audience but also celebrated. The same audience may be thrown off by unconventional narrative structure in a three-hour-film," he says.
It has prompted film makers to explore interesting casts and narratives. For instance, for Love Shots, Patil has focused on an interesting soundscape with original songs by upcoming music bands such as the Anand Bhaskar Collective. "You have everything from Rajasthani pop to retro ganja tracks," he says.
The actors too have been cast to break stereotype: there is the pair of Farida Jalal and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in the love story of 74-year-olds; two kids feature in a story about Class VI students, and more.
So, what is it that inspires actors to take up the genre? "There's very little at stake when you are making a short film: minimal budget, minimum time requirement and ease of making. Since there's less at stake, you can take more risks. That's what happened with Ghosh's film," says Apte, whose image perception underwent a sea-change post-Ahalya. "Before that, people weren't ready to cast me in a glamourous role," she says on the phone from London, where she is shooting a pilot for a short film to be released in May.
While she looks for a great story, Chadda seeks an interesting team when making a short film. "I didn't have so much fun making one of the shorts that I did early on in my career. We were all very new and amateurish. But then when I did Mira Nair's God Room, that was fun," she says.
It's also the challenge of the medium -the fact that you need to establish your story within three to ten minutes - that appeals to young actors like Saleem. In Koi Dekh Lega, he plays a blind person, a role that he has never essayed before. "And I don't know if I will get to do that again," he says.
Part of the attraction of starring in an online short film is the accessibility. Unhindered by middlemen and distributors, the film reaches every part of the globe at the same time. "I have fan clubs in Turkey and UAE as well. However, none of my full-length films has released in Turkey. So, I am assuming they have downloaded my films and seen them. But with Koi Dekh Lega, this will be the first time that my fans there will be watching my film the legitimate way. That makes me happy,' laughs Saleem.
The one thing that is missing in the short films ecosystem is a sound business model. "It's a disaster. Mostly, people are putting up content for free. But at YRF, with creative talent management and brand partnerships, we are able to open up a bunch of touch points for monetisation," says Patil.
Number one being subscription and the other being advertising. "Whatever you put up online, people advertise on it and you get a revenue share. Say, you get a million views, then you will get only Rs 1 lakh as revenue share. It's that bad. And that's why sponsors are important. It's they who pay my bills," says Patil.
YRF has developed various other monetisation schemes such as original songs and videos of shorts being deployed across mediums such as iTunes and Saavan; the merchandising and clothes line being made available in stores such as Diva'ni. Then there are licensing fees, syndication fees and remake rights.
However,, film makers like Makhija steer short of a discourse around the commerce of it. "It is good to be paid for one's art," he says, "but the minute we're told what we must make, it ceases to be artistic."
