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Apple has come up with a most ingenious way to highlight the capabilities of its flagship iPhones; the tech giant regularly produces short films, directed by world-famous filmmakers. These shorts are shot with the latest iPhones, and span a variety of filmmaking styles and genres. And now, Indian auteur Vishal Bhardwaj has joined an esteemed list of international filmmakers to direct a short film for Apple.
Titled Fursat, the 30-minute Bollywood-style musical was shot with the iPhone 14 Pro, and was released on YouTube on Friday. The film has been described as “a magical story about a man so obsessed with controlling the future that he risks losing what he holds most precious in the present.” Fursat stars Wamiqa Gabbi and Ishaan Khatter, who these days is credited mononymously as Ishaan. The short features an original soundtrack by Bhardwaj and lyricist Gulzar, with featured vocalists such as Sukhwinder Singh and Kailash Kher. Fursat has been shot by cinematographer Swapnil Sonawane, and features choreography by Shiamak Davar. “A traditional film camera comes with 10 people, 3 attendants and 10 boxes of lenses… you can’t move around. You can’t be quick. iPhone liberated me in that sense,” Bhardwaj said.
Later, Apple CEO Tim Cook praised Vishal’s film in a tweet that read, “Check out this beautiful Bollywood film from director @VishalBhardwaj that explores what might happen if you could see into the future. Incredible cinematography and choreography, and all #ShotoniPhone.”
Earlier this year, Apple debuted a 17-minute short film titled Chinese New Year – Through the Five Passes, directed by Peng Fei. Like Fursat, this was also shot on iPhone 14 Pros. Last year, director Park Chan-wook released a short film titled Life is But a Dream, shot with the iPhone 13 Pro. In 2021, Apple debuted a commercial directed by the legendary cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, using iPhone 12 Pros. Lubezki holds the distinction of having won three back-to-back Oscars, for his work on Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant.
In 2020, the Academy Award-winning director of La La Land and Whiplash, Damien Chazelle, directed a short for Apple titled Vertical Cinema. The nine-minute film was shot using iPhone 11 Pros, and was filmed in the portrait mode. Deadpool 2 and Hobbs and Shaw director David Leitch also used iPhone 11 Pros to shoot his action-heavy short, titled Snowbrawl.
Ishaan was last seen in the horror comedy Phone Bhoot, and will next star in the war drama Pippa. Wamiqa has worked with Vishal on his Modern Love: Mumbai short, and will reunite with the filmmaker on his upcoming Netflix film Khufiya.
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