When Rakesh Chaudhary met a bigshot Bollywood producer to narrate his short film idea of The Eclipse of Taregna, the producer asked him – "What's a short film!". After meeting many such producers, Chaudhary ended up self-financing his film with the help of a cinematographer friend and the film went on to win the grand jury prize for the best short film at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles in April this year.
It wasn't any easier for a Mumbai-based film editor Vinoo Choliparambil when he decided to turn director with his short film Vitthal. It was year 2008 and Vinoo had been working in the film industry for five years and had edited films like Ram Gopal Varma's 'Phoonk 2'.
No producer was interested in producing Vinoo's film and finally he had to go the independent way. He put in all his savings and even borrowed from his brother and a few friends. The film went on to win a National Award, and the returns turned out to be far more than the investments.
The stories of these two filmmakers gives away the bigger picture about the state of short films in India. Finding a producer for a short film is something almost unheard of, among short filmmakers in the country.
The lack of industry interest in short films has reasons of its own. There aren't any avenues available for exhibition and distribution of short films, making it unviable as a business. After making short films, producers-directors can either send it to film festivals or screen it at many of those short film clubs where screenings are non-commercial.
There is not an organized formal structure for production, distribution and exhibition of short films. And Chaudhary and Choliparambil are not the only ones who have had to bear the brunt of it.
However, there are always a few exceptions. Umesh Kulkarni is a household name in the community of short filmmakers in India. His short film Vilay competed at International Short Film Festival of Oberhausen in 2010 while Gaarud competed for the prestigious VPRO Tiger Awards at International Film Festival Rotterdam 2010. He is one of the fortunate filmmakers who did not have to worry about the finances for his film. All his short films, which have won awards and critical acclaim have been produced by the Film and Television Institute of India where Kulkarni studied direction in the class of 2005.
But for most short filmmakers in the country, the uphill journey of making a short film and that which follows is hardly a pleasant ride. After sailing through their first attempt by holding on to sheer determination and enthusiasm, few go on to make short films beyond their first. For most of them, it's either a full-stop there or then a jump to trying their hands on feature films.
Sidharth Srinivasan, whose short film The Tightrope Walker competed at the Venice International Film Festival in 2000 hasn’t made a short since. "I wouldn't want to think of short films as the stepping stone to making feature films. I want to make short films, but the problem is one of funding. It's easier to find funding for a feature film than a short film as there is an existing market for feature films. For a short, there is a bottleneck at both ends: Firstly, I don’t have any door to knock upon. Secondly, even if I manage to rope in a producer, how will I get my money back?"
Srinivasan made his first short at a time when the very notion of being an independent filmmaker was an obscure one, and very few even aspired to make short films. "The usual route was to assist a director for donkey’s years or then be pally with a film-star. Or then take the NFDC route to parallel cinema. You can say I was ahead of my time and was shelling money from my own pocket."
Manmohan Shetty, who was heading Adlabs then, had donated a lakh worth of raw stock for The Tightrope Walker. "This was old stock which had been lying at the lab and no producer wanted to touch it. But it was in great condition," says Srinivasan.
Abhay Kumar's short film Just That Sort of a Day premiered at Rotterdam and picked up awards at Busan International Short Film Festival and New York Indian Film Festival recently. He will continue to make films; however, his upcoming films, like the previous one, will be self-financed. "I would want to approach people to fund my films, but I am clueless as to who to go to."
Looking at the dismal state of production, distribution naturally seems a far-fetched dream. Talk about distribution of short films and Chaudhary is quick to answer, "If there is such a thing, let me know!" He is trying to find a distributer for his film through the festival circuit.
Choliparambil struck a non-exclusive contract with Ouat media, Canada and Magic Lantern Foundation, Delhi for the distribution of DVDs of his national award winning short. Flirting with the idea of a theatrical release, he says, "It would be great...but don't know if anyone would be willing to take short films to theatre!"
Mocha Film Club in Mumbai had emerged as a popular destination for the exhibition of short films. The organizers tried to do their bit by starting an agency which acquired a few shorts and then planned on distributing them.
Kunal Jhaveri, co-founder of the film club explains why the initiative didn’t work — "We tried to create a market but found that it was not viable. TV channels showed no interest. Distribution could only have been worthwhile if we created a catalogue of a bunch of short films. But it was very time consuming as we had to run after filmmakers to get them to sign a 20-25 page contact. By that time, the films would lose their marketability."
Just after Mocha Film Club wound up, the organizers also collaborated with the online portal of Rajshri films for distribution. "They bought a few short films from us at a decent price and exhibited them on the website for free," says Jhaveri. These films are still available for viewing on rajshri.com.
In Jhaveri's opinion, there is a need for a strong initiative in exhibition before distribution can comes along. "Distribution can happen only when there is interest and awareness about short films, even outside the film community. Till then, we are quite a bit away from distribution."
For the filmmakers toiling to make short films, the primary question remains: how will their next one come about?
Choliparambil is positive about it as he has had people showing interest in producing his future projects after Vitthal. Chaudhary, however, takes some time to answer. "I would do it only if I was commissioned to do it. If it’s my own project, I would try to get a grant. But I would not put my own money in another short."
For more on Independent cinema and film festivals visit: DearCinema.com####When Rakesh Chaudhary met a bigshot producer to narrate his film idea he asked him "What’s a short film?".
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