Twist in the Tale

Shuruaat Ka Twist is a six-part anthology produced by HumaraMovie.

I didn’t like the way Sindhi people are represented in Hindi films,” says Heena D’Souza over the phone, “It was particularly tiresome, terribly stereotypical — every Sindhi doesn’t say ‘Jhule Lal!’ just like that. I decided that I wanted to showcase my culture in an authentic way.” So she did, writing a short film Adi Sonal, which is part of Shuruaat Ka Twist, a six-part anthology produced by HumaraMovie. An independent production house, HumaraMovie was founded by Vinay Mishra, Pallavi Rohatgi, Priti Ali and Raghavan Bharadwaj in 2011, and specialises in creating short films. Now in its fifth year, Shuruaat is a flagship mentorship programme that pairs young, upcoming filmmakers with industry veterans; there is a different theme every year, such as “shor” (noise) in 2018, and “twist” for this edition. Each film in the anthology features a seemingly simple story, but with unexpected endings.

Now in its fifth year, Shuruaat is a flagship mentorship programme that pairs young, upcoming filmmakers with industry veterans

“Adi Sonal is a traditional Teej story — I’ve done a contemporary take on it. If you watch the way Karva Chauth is celebrated in Bollywood, you’d think it’s romantic but it’s not; it’s ritualistic and women lose their individuality,” says D’Souza, who was mentored by Vikramditya Motwane. She cast Neena Gupta and Lalit Bahl as a Sindhi couple who live with their sons and their wives; the women are busy preparing for Teej but one daughter-in-law, played by Trimala Adhikari, harbours a secret. “I couldn’t have asked for a better cast. The kind of attention to detail they showed makes you realise that if you have a good story, the format doesn’t matter,” she says.

There is a different theme every year, such as “shor” (noise) in 2018, and “twist” for this edition.

Echoing D’Souza’s sentiment is producer-turned-director Sanjiv Kishinchandani, who made Bhaskar Calling, a comedy based on a story by Anupama Sirsalewala. “The original idea was about an insurance agent who is called upon by a gentleman, and his son. After speaking to my mentor, Rajkumar Hirani, we turned it into home-loan agent (Bhaskar) and added a bit of mystery and suspense,” he says. He has worked with Hirani before: he was a line producer on 3 Idiots, executive producer on PK, and consultant producer on Sanju. “His guidance was invaluable, and he gave me complete freedom to execute my vision. My greatest challenge was to work with the budget that was given to us; I ended up spending my own money to make my film,” he says. He also wanted to cast lesser-known actors — Kamil Shaikh plays Bhaskar, while Shahriyar Atai plays the Parsi gentleman, who has several tricks up his sleeve; the duo play off against each other with a natural ease.

This year, Kishinchandani and D’Souza films are joined by Avalokita Dutt’s winsome film, Gutthi (mentored by Amit Masurkar), Hanish Kalia’s psychological thriller Khauff (mentored by Raj Kumar Gupta) — along with Praveen Fernandes and Gaurav Mehra, who made their films, Tap Tap, and Guddu, respectively, without mentors. Tap Tap features Chunky Pandey as a music composer who has fallen on hard times, while Guddu is the story of a young woman who runs away from her wedding to meet her soul mate.