From Interior Cafe Night to Khujli: 12 must-watch short films on YouTube

YouTube is a rabbit hole for short films and documentaries and it is extremely tough to pick a select few to watch. However, Indian shorts have been gathering international acclaim in the last few years and as more and more people shift their focus to short-form entertainment, short films are becoming one of the best ways to dive deep into this oasis. Here are 10 must-watch short films that you can watch on YouTube!

• Dahej Ka Scooter

Focusing on the need to form family values and age-old customs to best fit the requirements of the present-day woman, the short film has been winning recognition at different global stages. Currently streaming on YouTube, the film has effectively gathered an enormous viewership. Conceptualized and created by Rahul Bhatnagar, 'Dahej ka scooter’ is a story that develops with the pressure between a bride and her husband-to-be and dissolves down to a straightforward and sweet ending where the woman changes a family custom to ensure a prized possession of her prospective family. It is an account of a modest soon-to-be wedded couple and the sharp turn that their romantic tale takes when the young woman is approached to fulfill a condition to marry the man.

• Interior Cafe Night

Adhiraj Bose's Interior Cafe Night is an endearing tale of lost love. An amazing story presented with skill and emotion, Interior Cafe Night stars Naseeruddin Shah, Shernaz Patel, Naveen Kasturia, and Shweta Basu Prasad. The 12-minute short film is about two long-lost lovers who meet by chance after 30 years. Their lives now are totally different - no longer limited by the obligations and conditions that stopped them all those years back. Is this the end of the start of another chapter for their long-lost love? Unrequited love is a theme that has numerous accounts written on it. From Shakespeare to current day films, the subject has been and will be a top choice among creative minds. Where this short film makes a difference in the manner in which it's told. An ideal café scenery and a chance meeting are utilized well as the setting.

• Chutney

The most interesting—and repulsing—thing about Chutney is the grim association made between food and death, particularly when that is brought about by murder. There are additionally indisputable hints of the "comfortable secrets" of Agatha Christie, where viciousness and sex become more powerful via tiny pieces of information. These influences appear glaringly evident, yet Das' film is wholeheartedly Indian at its core. Her characters are incredibly conceivable and established in a milieu brought alive by accurately noticed subtleties—the way they talk, the clothes they wear, the house they live in, and the food they eat. Furthermore, its twist is established on a sort of agrarian lifestyle that is still by and practiced in numerous country pieces. Despite such fascinating thoughts, Chutney could've turned out badly without its cast of exceptionally skilled actors. However, the film's focal point is Tisca Chopra, scarcely conspicuous as the buck-toothed Anita. She has additionally created and co-written the film. How she turns the yarn and allows it gradually to fix its grasp is the thing that makes the film.

• Ouch

Not many of our actors take up roles, not to mention play them delightfully, that explore the midlife crisis of the average Indian male as often as Manoj Bajpayee. In Neeraj Pandey's recent short film Ouch, Bajpayee, as in Gangs of Wasseypur, plays a middle-aged man caught between the drawl of his everyday life and the seduction of the forbidden. What's more, similar to previous roles, Bajpayee, with his prowess, makes what could be viewed as indecent, charming. Pandey comprehends the endowment of his lead—he took advantage of it when he cast him as a CBI official who is fed-up with his better half in the 2013 heist film Special 26—and plans the 14-minute film around it.

• Khujli

There's nothing similar to sex to acculturate the quintessential Indian parent; on-screen; at least. A large part of the new films in India acquires their most charming minutes when old-fashioned parents attempt to wrack their heads over physical intimacy in the current times. Sonam Nair's short, Khujli, expands this beguiling little disorder by zeroing in exclusively on these fringe faces. Jackie Shroff and Neena Gupta, as an exhausting working-class couple, blossom in their roles to investigate what resembles a 30-year-old tingle, both figuratively and in reality.

•  Disconnected

We invest a lot of energy in how we present ourselves on the web – it isn't our most authentic self. Or is it? More often than not, it's an aspirational depiction of who we want to be. Be that as it may, what happens when we begin focusing on this virtual world over our own real lives? Following the story of one specific family, the short film explores this very subject. Disconnected is a 21 minute-long short film introduced by the Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films, which hits you right where it hurts. Easily mixing nostalgic qualities with components of anticipation, the film portrays a heartfelt story as well as a technically perfect tone to drive the audience to the story.

• Ahalya

The film is a spin-off of the legendary story of Ahalya. In the Ramayana, Ahalya, the most beautiful of Lord Brahma's creations, is the wife of a wise old sage called Gautama. Lord Indra, who is attracted by her magnificence, camouflages himself as her significant other and charms her. Ahalya and Indra are cursed by the sage for the former’s betrayal. Ahalya is transformed into a stone to be given life after Lord Rama's feet touch her. There are numerous adaptations of the story, yet in every one of them, Ahalya is the person who is suffering for her betrayal. Sujoy Ghosh has taken the legendary story and given it a spin in this fourteen-minute film. The film additionally has shades of Satyajit Ray's short story Professor Shonku and Strange Dolls (Professor Shonku O Aschorjo Putul).

•  Devi

With solid characters, a stellar cast, and a significantly grounded storyline, Devi, a short film directed and written by Priyanka Banerjee, reveals the upsetting degrees of crimes against women in the country. Featuring Kajol, Neha Dhupia, and Shruti Haasan among others, the 13-minute film disentangles the trauma of sexual assault faced by a group of nine women, all having a place with various social foundations, who share a room. Each of the significant characters from Kajol, who seems, by all accounts, to be a God-fearing housewife, to Neha Dhupia, conceivably a corporate professional, the burqa-clad Mukta Barve and surprisingly a grandma in Neena Kulkarni, quarrel with one another against the backdrop of blasting news channels. But despite their conflicts, they stay together united by the conditions of their dismal past.

• Imdaad

Dr. Mohammad Ali Husainy Imdaad was made in less than 72 hours. Dr. Ali, who is initially from Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, centers his film on a young girl’s first period. The girl, Megha, is in urgent need of help when she has her first period in the middle of her classes in school and is searching for some assistance. At a point when she is holed up in the washroom, she sees a boy wandering the school passages. Whether or not she is open to asking this kid for help shapes the story of Imdaad.

• Fisherwoman and Tuk Tuk

Society has 'boxed' her as just a fisherwoman. She is expected to do just what her trade requires her to do, however secretly she harbors a fantasy about possessing an auto. The auto is her departure, her solitary help, and practically even her lover. As the film takes a startling turn, the viewer is compelled to consider subjects of class, gender, friendship, and surprisingly more profound inquiries on the inevitable signs of life. Named 'Fisherwoman and tuk-tuk', the short film debuted in film festivals across the world and has won 18 awards including the national award in 2015.

• Khamakha

The film won the Filmfare People's Choice Award for the Best Short Film. The film is your classic romantic film served as a delicate sweet dish. A compressed form of what could've been a rather long-drawn film, the story is simple. Boy meets girl in a bus, they strike up a conversation, rather awkward at first but rightly so. Once they step off the bus together, the viewer smiles along with them after all the preconceived n. A subtle yet beautiful reminder of love and life. The film’s soft romantic track is a bonus.

• Kriti

Manoj Bajpayee and Radhika Apte in a dark drama are becoming a trope for many short films. However, Kriti stands out from the crowd. The 19-minute short film helmed by Shirish Kunder follows the story of a man talking about the woman in his life (the namesake of this film) Kriti, who has agoraphobia, during his session with a psychiatrist. When the psychiatrist refuses to believe him, the way he tries to convince her and how the plot unfolds is what makes this film worthwhile.