Exclusive! Uljhe Hue is a simple story of complications, says director Satish Raj about Sanjana Sanghi, Abhay Verma-led short film

Online dating can be exciting but also a complicated and difficult experience. And, the recent short film Uljhe Hue explores just that. The story of the short film can be relatable especially to young adults as it presents the nuances of modern-day love stories, capturing the dilemma of wooing respective partners, dating etiquettes and, addresses them in the millennial language.

The film, which was released on February 11, is currently available to stream on Amazon miniTV. In an exclusive chat with OTTplay, director Satish Raj and actors Abhay Verma and Sanjana Sanghi talk about the film, their characters and the scope of short films.

I saw the trailer of Uljhe Hue and it looks really very interesting. I believe it tells a simple story of a regular person's dating life and being ghosted. So, could you tell us a bit more about the movie and what the audience can expect?

Satish: I think they can expect a nice refreshing, modern romance. It is take on two interesting characters, played by Sanjana and Abhay, who represent the young adults of today - who are practical, working, focused on their careers, their passion, but at the same time, there is something that's happening deep down in their hearts. So how are they managing all that, while also dealing with the huge complexity of relationships and life and how do they simply find a solution by opening up their hearts is what it is about. So, it's actually a very simple story about complications.

That's a nice way to put it, I guess. So Sanjana, could you tell us a bit about your character? Was it actually complicated to play it?

Sanjana: It wasn't any more complicated than living the life that we do in our 20s. Today, we believe life is simple. But if we're being honest with ourselves, it is pretty complicated. So for me, at least personally, getting into Rasika was like, relating to just another girl of my time, and almost feeling like she shares so much of what I share internally - so many confusions and inhibitions and desires that she carries with herself, and she can't articulate them. She's not able to express them. And I used to feel the same with myself that I can't articulate everything that I'm feeling. That's why, I became an actor. Because I kind of try and express that through my work and through my performances. So playing her has been liberating. It's been it's really been cathartic. I've enjoyed it a lot.

Abhay, could you tell us a bit about your experience?

Abhay: The experience was fascinating and eye-opening because Varun is a character who is not like me. He's a lawyer, and he tends to live in a certain way. He's very particular about timing. He meets a person for a limited time only, so he sets the alarm clock accordingly. That is not me. And that, actually made the creative process more fascinating as you tend to just not do the usual thing which you do. And that is where you decide those boundaries, which you have to cross as an actor. So, it was a very fantastic experience, experiencing Varun, the psychology of a lawyer. I sat down with Satish and discussed about Varun and the film and all the other things, which we can do and cannot do. That made it really easy for me to portray him. It was a good process and a fun learning process.

Since it's a short film, did you find any limitations when it comes to exploring your character in depth or in the scope of your performances?

Abhay: Not really. The duration doesn't matter because ultimately, it's you and your craft and your process. You have to just dive into it. Whether it's a shorter format or longer format, work is work and you should have high regard and respect for it, be it a feature film or a short film, or an ad. It's all the same. And I think Sanjana, being the fantastic actor that she is, also agrees to it.

Sanjana: I totally agree. I haven't done a short film before. So, I had expected it to be a bit different. I almost felt like we've found Rasika and Varun enough that we can maybe tell a longer story. But then you have to not be greedy and just be happy with the crunched tale that you're telling. So it's as satisfying as a long format. It takes less off from you in a way. So it's more rewarding, I think. It's really fun.

I believe that's also because of the way it is written and packaged as well. So Satish, was it a challenging process? How did you manage to tell this simple story of complications in a short format?

Satish: I didn't have too much time to make this. Had I had a lot of time months to think about it, I might have screwed up. Sometimes, overthinking, reworking and doing so many things and wanting to do so many things can spoil your work. We also had little time to complete it and the speed at which we all managed to come together as a team and pull off everything was phenomenal. So the crunched time kind of helped here to put my thoughts straight and clear. Otherwise, like, you know, creative minds tend to wander also, thinking the set could have been better, or this and that could have been better. I didn't have the luxury to do that. Actually, after watching the edit, I was like, 'Thank God, we didn't have that luxury'. It's a good feeling to have.

Sanjana: To give you perspective, we actually shot this not even two months ago, and we're releasing it now. So the turnaround speed of our whole journey is unbelievable.

Satish: A lot of credit goes to Sanjana and Abhay. With Abhay, I still got some time but with Sanjana, I could hardly have meetings with her as she was shooting for other projects and travelling. So we were talking on and off over the phone. When she got on board, I was excited and it gave me the confidence to focus on everything else. On the set, the two were so prepared, so I didn't have to worry about performances. That is the biggest confidence that any director can get. They were bringing out even minute details in their performances like the eye movements and certain cute things. I think it was very interesting, as these small things added a lot of flavour to the story. While watching the edit, I realised that these were not there in the script. We kind of had a jamming session where we discussed these minute details that can be added. I usually do that with the actors, during workshops and here, I actually also got to do that just before shooting the scene. I think we all were in sync with the character, with the story and with everything that was happening. So, it all happened very organically. These small moments actually make a perfect film into a memorable film. I feel even if you have a great story, script and also a great screenplay, it is important that actors add these personal attributes of the character. These small things make you remember the story. I am glad I had the opportunity of working with these two really talented young guns.

Satish, you have earlier worked on a short film Shor Se Shuruat in 2016. I believe back then, short films were not consumed widely for entertainment purposes. But with OTT, there are many short films coming up. So do you see the trend changing?

Satish: Back in 2016 too, I had a lot of faith in short format. In fact, we were probably one of the first people to come up with an anthology back in 2016. It was very difficult to convince people to watch a film, which has seven short films in it, like an anthology, as that idea in itself had not grown. But somewhere deep down, back then also, I knew that short formats are something which are very interesting as it allows you to tell many things in that short duration. Making a short film is way more challenging than a feature film. If need be, we can stretch the short film and make it into a feature. And you might have the tendency to do so too. But what is challenging is to compress the story in a short film, developing the characters, then the story progression, and all of that. It's a lot for a 20-minute, actually. So it is very challenging to tell a story in a shorter format. And I like that kind of challenge. I personally like short format content as a creator and I believe in the format. Now, with OTT, there are so many short films and anthologies coming up. And I see that in a couple of years, we will be watching a lot of short format content.

So have you guys tried online dating? Are you the ones who usually ghost the date or is it the other way around?

Abhay: I haven't tried. I am a bit old school like my character Varun. But, as far as the ghosting part is concerned, ghosting has only happened when some of our parents have caught us with our phones with texts during the schooling or tuition days. So that's all that has happened to me. I prefer to meet someone in person and just connect organically and be a part of each other's lives.

So what is your idea of a perfect date?

Abhay: My idea of a perfect date... I don't know actually. I believe in finding a perfect partner for myself, so that every day is a perfect day. Why have just a single perfect day if you can have a perfect life with the perfect partner?

Sanjana, would you like to share your thoughts or experience of online dating? Have you tried it?

Sanjana: I haven't. To be honest, it's not easy for us. I can't imagine getting onto a dating app. I don't think that would be a great idea at this point. But I've seen tons of my friends today, getting engaged, you know, wanting to spend the rest of their lives together after having met on dating apps. And I've seen awesome amazing friendships coming out of them if things do not work out romantically. So I believe in them. I think they're a very huge part of our generation now and our culture. So yeah, I'm a huge proponent. I can maybe anonymously get on them and see what things are like. But I haven't used one myself yet.