My Favourite OTT Watch in 2021
We are in the last month of 2021. This year has been a mixed bag on the entertainment front. OTT watches have ruled, with cinema halls opening up as late as October. More than two hour feature films, the short film format has thrown up interesting pieces. Short films or anthologies by different directors have gained popularity and are showcasing diverse directorial talent.
“Stat Host” and “Interview” from #Netflix’s anthology of short films - Feels Like Ishq, were a pleasant surprise for me in the barrage of streaming releases this year.
Though
Feels Like Ishq is a mixed bag, featuring stories about young love, something
in these two short films deeply resonated with me. One speaks of rediscovering
the joy within us and of being companionable with our own selves, while the
other casts a light on the fast-disappearing human element in our social
transactions.
Both
these shorts struck a chord with me through their simple stories and
universality of theme.
Topical Theme of “Go beyond your Comfort Zone” in Star Host
A
young houseowner at picturesque Mahabaleshwar decides to earn some quick money
by renting a room to holidaying couples while his parents are away on a long
vacation. He advertises his house as Le Chateau Tranquille in a bid to get
young couples flocking to his nest.
Only
hitch, instead of lovey-dovey couples, a rather sullen young girl lands up for
an overnight stay. We learn she has been just gaslighted by her fiancé who
thinks she is a kid who has been overprotected all her life. She undertakes
this solo journey to prove a point to the callous idiot, but the journey turns
rather life-changing for her.
Well, the stage is set for a budding romance to bloom, but the film thankfully doesn’t take the sentimental or cliched route. The girl wakes up to her sense of adventure, trying out non-touristy things and facing her fears head on. The guy learns to appreciate what he has, instead of yearning for the picture-perfect future.
Though
the premise is “been there, done that” sort of typical, the feather-light,
unsentimental treatment is a welcome change. And so is the humour that plays
out like a homely background score.
He
encourages her to challenge her own perception of herself and see herself anew.
She teaches him to value the stunning in the mundane. Both ditch their comfort
zones, shed their hang-ups and embrace life with a fresh perspective. And a
friendship starts, that promises of maturing to something deeper.
What
takes this short film a notch higher is the measured performance of the lead
actors. Assured acts from Rohit Saraf and Simran Jehani, and the deft direction
by Anand Tiwari makes Star Host a really absorbing watch.
The Interview that connects two souls
A
job interview becomes the venue for sharing of human kindness and empathy
between two young aspirants. The girl who we later learn, has lost her fiancé
to obscurity, is ambitious and assured, and the boy is struggling with low
self-esteem. They strike up a friendship with the smarter girl sharing
interview tips with the visibly nervous, under-confident guy.
Sharing
samosas and tea, the girl tutors the guy on giving confident responses and
getting over his lack of self-assurance. She can see her own ex-fiance mirrored
in the shy, blubbering guy, and a sense of guilt spurs her on. Her fiancé had
fled from his responsibilities and she wants this guy to stand up to his.
Again,
a thread of ironic humour runs through this short film too. The girl nurses
guilt over having nagged her ex-boyfriend to become something more than a
“loser”, and uses this opportunity to help this young man who needs to prove to
his father that he is not one.
They
bond despite the differences in upbringing and background. He is in awe of her,
and she uses all her charm to instil that much needed shot of self-assurance in
him. He teaches her to relax once in a while, to lower her guard, to not chase
perfection always. A human connection forms between the two, that nudges the
girl to give up her chances of getting the coveted job to the needier boy.
The
ending is sweet, and shows the promise of a fledgling relationship between the
two. With competent performances from Zayn Marie Khan and Neeraj Madhav, this Sachin
Kundalkar directed short film ticks all the right boxes, leaving you with a
smile.
Different Strokes
Feels
Like Ishq is a welcome change from the sex-gore-cuss-word filled dramas that #Netflix is famous for. It is like a breath of fresh air, reaffirming our faith
in the little positives of life.
The
series starts with the rather indifferent “Save the Da(y)te”, that is a typical
vanilla coming-of-age kind of story, followed by the Tahira Kashyap Khurana
directed “Quaranteen Crush”, also a coming- of-age sweet tale of a Covid
positive girl bonding with her bumbling young desi neighbour. “She Loves Me,
She Loves Me Not” presents a fresh look at a budding same-sex romance, while
the last in the series, “Ishq Mastana” is a delightful anecdote of a reluctant
young man being dragged into a street protest demonstration by his activist
date.
The
cherries on the cake of this series are “Interview” and “Star Host” that say a
lot of things with a smile and a core humanity at the heart. The emotions and
the human connection in both are timeless in their appeal. And that is the
reason these two shorts in this series remains my favourite watch of the year.
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