In a Minute

winners of the festival will be declared online in the first week of October. The winning films will be chosen through online voting. Bala left a stable bank job at the age of 27 and assissted noir-specialist director Anurag Kashyap in Dev.D and Gulaal. The story he says,came to him in 2009,when he was waiting for an autorickshaw outside Mumbai’s Andheri station as he was getting late for a lecture by director Sriram Raghavan. Characteristically,most auto drivers refused. It is this incident that he has taken inspiration from in his one minute film titled Auto Madar . “The film is about a contract killer getting late for a kill and not getting any auto. It’s a minute-long dark comedy,” says Bala. Interestingly,the film was made on a frugal budget of Rs 200 and the shots have not been staged. “I had a camcorder with me and I told my actor to just stand outside the Andheri station and look for an auto. Luckily that day no auto driver was ready and that’s exactly what we shot. For the last shot,we paid the auto wallah Rs 100 and that’s how we finished it in no time,” explains Bala. What excites him the most is the fact that the jury who will pass judgement on his film has some top international names. “I am happy to have just made it to top 25 and the most amazing fact is that revered members of the film fraternity like Neill Blomkamp,director of District 9 have seen my film,” concludes a thrilledBala.

Apart from Bala’s Auto Madar ,29-year-old Mookerji’s film Gone has also made it to the top 25 in Filminute 2010. Actor,director,stand-up comedian and playwright Mookerji has played numerous roles in his professional life. “I was thoroughly impressed when I watched an entry from last year’s festival and decided to give the festival a shot,” says Mookerji. Gone,made on a budget of Rs 30,000,is the story of a volunteer who goes on stage for a magic show,which ends in a goof-up. There are no dialogues in the film and the beauty of the concept lies in the expressions of actors and the soundtrack. Mookerji hopes that the concept of short films will catch on in India and says,“Even though I come from a country with a billion plus population,I will probably notch up very few votes because the buzz here is very low.” The festival also sees an Indian member – writer-director Tanuja Chandra – in the festival’s jury for the first time.