Rating : 4.5/5
Genre : Romance, drama, suspense
Year : 2021
Platform : Netflix
Number of Episodes : 7
Director : Tahira Kashyap, Vinay Chhawal, Vijayeta Kumar, Punarvasu Naik, Smrutika Panigrahi, Rakesh Sain, Gautam Govind Sharma
Cast : Neena Gupta, Divya Dutta, Sanjay Kapoor, Deepak Dobriyal, Swaroop Sampat, Isha Talwar, Rytasha Rathore
Kidwise : PG-13
Zindagi inShort is a collection of 7 short films, presented episodic fashion. Each story is about 15-20 minutes long so combined this is less than 2 hours long. And what a lovely 2 hours it is!
Each story stands independently, and they have no connection to each other. The tales come with twists and revelations/surprises, and the theme of each varies from love to infidelity to rebellion. There are 7 different directors at the helm and the series has been produced by Sikhya Entertainment (which also produced fantastic films like The Lunchbox, Masaan and Titli among others).
The first short film is “Pinni”. Pinni is a Punjabi sweet, and the film is about a housewife, played by the marvelous Neena Gupta, who discovers a new way of looking at life. Pinni is directed by Tahira Kashyap (Ayushman Khurana is her husband). The second is “Sleeping Partner” featuring Divya Dutta as Beena, who’s sick of her abusive husband (Sanjay Kapoor). Then there is the lovely “Chajju ke Dahi Bhalle”, the quirky “Thappad”, the surprising “Nano so phobia”, the flaming “Swaaha” and the reflective “Sunny Side Upar”.
While I loved “Chajju ke Dahi Bhalle” I have to make a special mention of “Thappad”, which is a tale about a brother and a sister, and so interestingly filmed – throughout the film we only ever get to see the faces of the brother and sister, every other character in the film is shown only in little snatches of limbs, hands waving, feet kicking, fingers pointing, and it still manages to convey the desired emotion quite effectively!
Each of these films is something special! The acting is top notch, but then what else could it be if stalwarts like Neena Gupta, Divya Dutta and Deepak Dobriyal grace the screen? Beautifully told, wonderfully acted, these quirky films are a pleasure to watch. Highly recommended!
