Shorts (2013) User Reviews

A good Attempt, but leaves out a lot

[NFSpoet · 7/10 · 26 October 2013]

A collection of 5 tales, it's a decent attempt no doubt. But, somehow you end up wanting more, and not because you've experienced something amazing and you're awestruck, but because you're actually just unsatisfied.

The two main stories, with the big names: Sujata and Mehfooz, starring Huma and Nawazuddin, are to me the weaklings here. Either the Directors were not able to reproduce their ideas precisely, or perhaps they just didn't have enough time, these two shorts are abrupt and ill conceived. Sujata is very raw, and there is just no time to connect with the protagonist to understand her. Mehfooz on the other hand, is a like a string, it floats and you see it, but you can't quite understand it.

Shor, the last of the Sho(r)ts, is a very well composed story of feelings and relations and mortality, and how death and fear affect us.

But the two outstanding ones are: Audacity and The Epilogue. While Audacity is perhaps one of the finest Indian pieces on Parent Child relation in the new age, The Epilogue is just wine to the Lynch fan in me. A confusing tale of a relationship, or perhaps demons, or maybe ghosts, some of the stills are breathtaking and both the actors astounding.

Watch it for The Epilogue and Audacity, accept Shor as a side serving, the other two Sujata and Mehfooz as the Salad nobody likes, but yet is quintessential for the meal.

Leaves a little gap in your expectations...

[santasil-england-mallik · 7/10 · 3 January 2014]

SUJATA, EPILOGUE, AUDACITY, MEHFUZ, SHOR...!

SUJATA did'nt satisfy me well, it fails to describe the story or the editing is not good...although Huma Qureshi did play her role very well but the story was not correctly arranged..and cinematography is average (5/10)

EPILOGUE has the most mysterious story in shorts...in other words..it is awesome. It explores the mind of a lonely man(gay) whose mind is infested with demons, and other psychological hallucinations...cinematography is awesome...but the Director uses too much close focus ..the climax is simply great.! all total it is perfect (8/10)

AUDACITY has the story that begins with very much like many other art films but ultimately ends up with something more awesome....! It describes the story of a very common scenario of an Indian middle-class family and their daughter's dream which is against the society..and so on with a unexpected twist at the end... (7/10)

MEHFUZ is also great which explores the story of a very poor man who burns dead bodies illegally..and who is always drug addicted...however he falls in love with a girl and the next day when he again went to bury two dead bodies, then he discovered his crush's dead body ! the story is very touching and the cinematography is also great but it looks that the director needed more screen time to make it more great...(Nawazuddin Siddique is simply awesome) (7/10)

SHOR is again an awesome film with a complete use of screen time, a well developed plot, great directing, and good cinematography, this film explores the family of a slum dueler...and their hardships..and in the end how they again fall in love with each other after several years of marriage. The story also explores the mental state of the protagonist, his fear of death, and his bond with his loved wife which was loosened due to poverty, hardships, and struggle...! (8/10)

Stellar cast for some abstract shorts .....

[PimpinAinttEasy · 5/10 · 11 February 2014]

Dear curious Indian cinema fan,

Shorts is an interesting collection of well ..... short films. I half recommend it.

The first short has the old abused woman story. Huma Qureshi looks nice. Dingy Mumbai flat, pakoras getting fried and lots of squalor. Huma is alright as long as she does not open her mouth. So I know life in Sion must be tough. Hey, how did it get that way? What ails these people? Does the director care? Or does he simply want to show that he is very sympathetic? I mean, this film/story has been made so many times. We did not need one more film like this.

The second short is too abstract and I couldn't bear to look at Richa Chadda's feet. Man, this woman has the ugliest pair of veiny feet you would ever see. Just kidding! She is a pretty good actress though.

The third short is quite amusing. I guess the characters are what they call Bengali Bhadralok. This was probably the best short in this collection of shorts.

The fourth short has Nawazuddin Siddiqui playing a corpse burner who longs for female company. This one is also pretty abstract. Nawazuddin looks like a yuppie with bad make up on. A reviewer on IMDb wrote that this short deserved a full length film and I agree.

The fifth short is another sympathetic tale about an overworked woman and her conservative husband who live in a slum. It was quite predictable.

Best Regards, Pimpin.

(4.5/10)

An ensemble of 5 short stories — ranging from sheer brilliant to mediocre compositions

[Greg-House · 8/10 · 22 April 2014]

Much of my review concurs with that of the others.

The movie is a collection of five short stories, each trying to paint a picture. It is mostly up to the viewer how much he is able to piece together to reconstruct what the director wanted to convey.

1. Sujata: A poignant tale, in all flesh and blood literally, from the view point of a woman; the protagonist being brought to life by the sheer marvel of Huma Qureshi. The way she portrays her character with such conviction and realism makes me fall in love with her every time I see her on screen! With Sujata, you are thrown in to the mind and body of an average woman. Well directed and well conceived; although, since it begins on a slightly fast pace, you are initially hurried to grasp the story.

2. Epilogue: The direction went somewhat overboard with the camera angles and close ups. Overall a wonderful narration of the connectedness (or the lack of it) in a relationship. The acting was good, but somewhere we feel that the story could have been given a few more minutes in the build up in order to give the bigger picture the required meaning.

3. Audacity: Again, an excellent portrayal of the parent-child relationship and the stress of the generation gap. The story has a comical touch in the concluding half. One wonders if the protagonist could have been a boy, instead of the teenaged daughter, in order to lend some more relevance to the story.

4. Mehfooz: Nawazuddin Siddique plays the protagonist. The story has concealed romantic connotations associated with it, although the protagonist more or less gives his character the outlook of a lecherous and cheap (read tharki) galoot by the way of his portrayal. Could the story have done better with a different setting: one that did not involve corpses or shabbily dressed beggar (was the scene of the cockroach really required?)

5. Shor: By far the best of the lot (in my opinion). A depiction of how the realisation of an imminent death or a catastrophe throws off the mask of imposture from our faces and connects us with our own inner self and its true emotions.