No Reel Answer?

“I knew I wanted to make a film when I read his story,” says Keluskar. It raised the vital issue of how deep globalisation and consumerism had affected children. “It also begged an opinion on how far children would go to achieve these goals,” he adds. The 23-minute film is set in Pune. While the incident was the focal point of the story,it could happen in any part of the country,he says. “The newspapers mentioned that he was very calm during the interrogation. In fact,he had no remorse while accepting the truth. That is when the thought hit me. What was going on in his mind? Do murderers have a sense of spirituality? Is it perfectly sane to be insane?”

Zero by Zero is the story of a boy ‘Yash Nimse’,who kills his friend’s sister for an iPod. “The film has only one character,that of Yash. All the other characters are off screen and only their voices can be heard,” he says. Shot on a modest budget of Rs 7500,on his Canon 7D camera,the film was completed in December last year.

Keluskar adds that the jury members had an intense debate before awarding him the Special Jury Mention. “They debated on the moral ambiguity of the protagonist,” he says,adding,“The film is a symbol of the ruthless pursuit of happiness as propounded by globalisation. His act and his background do not directly talk about this conflict.”

Keluskar offers an interesting explanation for the title of the film. “How do you justify a 14-year-old killing an eight-year-old,for a gadget? It is like dividing zero by zero in mathematics. There is no real answer. An issue like this can have far reaching effects on society which are not only socio-cultural-political but also very personal and psychological. Hence,the title,” he says.