JioCinema Film Festival Part 1 review: The first 5 films, The Comedian, Bebaak, Birha, Rat In the Kitchen, and Mein Mehmood, all have something important to say in just 10 to 20 minutes!
JioCinema Film Festival Part 1 review: With 20 short films in 20 days, the film festival with its first five films shows us that good content doesn't necessarily mean a 3 hour film and a lot can be said about untouched topics in a short span of time. The first five films talk about the situation of age-old comedy actors, the cost of hijab for a Muslim girl, the emotion of coming back home, loneliness in a hustling and bustling city, and the burden of the English language.
The Comedian stars late actor Satish Kaushik. Bebaak stars Sarah Hashmi, Nawazuddin Siddique, Vipin Sharma, and Sheeba Chaddha. Birha stars Rajit Kapoor and Manav Vij. Rat in the Kitchen stars Mantra and Mein Mehmood stars Ozair Abdul Aleem. Most of these films have been a part of many film festivals in the past and have won accolades. Short films have a tough job at their hands to tell an impactful story in just a few minutes where the audience gets the message as well as the impact of it, and these films excelled at it.
The Comedian - Katyayan Shivpuri
With a sweet story about a comedy actor who has been a part of 314 films, the film points out the state of age-old comedy actors and is in a way an ode to old-school comedy. When a small child with cancer and a YouTube channel came into the life of this frustrated and bitter man, she changed his life with her cute smile and jokes and brought back that hope and company that was somewhere lost.
Bebaak - Shazia Iqbal
It's a thought-provoking story about a young girl who needs scholarship money to study further but she faces misogyny from a strict religious leader who humiliates her over not wearing a hijab and not looking like a Muslim woman. Her struggle to compromise on who she is and what she is supposed to do while facing the reality of being economically vulnerable breaks the bubble we live in. The film, even though briefly, touches upon Islamophobia in an impactful manner. It is definitely a dinner table conversation starter at home!
Birha - Puneet Prakash
It's a heartfelt story of a man's journey back home after he ran away from it many moons ago. He remembers all those moments with his parents in that house and repents his actions in a soulful moment with his aging father. Birha beautifully depicts the pain of separation caused by being away from a loved one and also has a solid twist in the end.
Mein Mehmood - Prataya Saha
In 10 minutes, this film, through Mehmood, who works as an immigrant in another country, makes you realise how much we value English which is just one of many languages out there spoken by thousands. Set in the time of COVID-19, Mehmood faces trouble at his job because he doesn't know English.
Rat in the Kitchen - Arkish Aftab
A neo-noir thriller that deals with privilege, access, and loneliness in the most absurd way, Rat in the Kitchen is about a guy who is on the verge of divorce and is fed up of a rat in his kitchen. Until one day when he installs a CCTV camera in his home and finds out about a strange woman in his apartment. Sometimes we are just so lost in our own worlds that we have no clue about what is going on elsewhere and this touches upon that!
Each of these films are streaming on JioCinema!
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