Wonder kids

Rinki is the abandoned by-product of a pleasure house and her friend Bashir is a waiter whose fate has separated him from his parents after a communal riot. In this world of the street-smart strays is an orphan,Ishaan,who begins to translate his observation of life into words and builds it into a novel. How these three destitutes of destiny hang on to the strings of friendship,compassion and happiness is the heart beat of the flick. “I have always been fond of writing and acting. Once the idea hit me,my friends and I worked on the story,” says 16-year-old Mahajan,who takes credit for the story,screenplay and direction.

The shooting was accomplished with that favourite instrument of every short-film maker – the humble handy-cam. Mahajan continues,“None of us have any professional experience,so it was quite a task to bring our idea to life. The post-production work was left to professionals as camera angles and sound recording with a handy-cam can be a bit challenging and we didn’t want to leave anything to chance.” 18-year-old Shrinivas Patwardhan,who plays Bashir in the movie,says,“My character is very level-headed. He questions and confronts things.”

The 55-minute cinematic journey may seem like a brief outing in the larger universe of arc lights,but it is a big leap for a teen who has just passed her Standard 10 board exams. And now,Mahajan is focussing on her upcoming entry into the Mahindra United World College for an International Baccalaureate diploma. “But,I plan to rework a novel that I wrote when I was 14,” she smiles.

(The film will be screened at NFAI,Law College Road,at 5 pm.)