“Peppermint” is Poorva Shivakumar's's thesis film, directed by Shubham Sanjay Shevade, which will be screened at Warner Bros Studios on February 1, 2019.
The short begins with Subramaniyam, an Indian writer, sitting in his office, looking at an engagement ring and pondering. There is a jump cut where he is sitting on a porch in early morning, and his girlfriend Jenny appears, asking him what he has planned for their anniversary. The couple seems to be on very good terms, but in the next jump cut, we watch them having an intense fight after coming back from their night out. Subramaniyam proposed but when Jenny stated that she wants children, a rather intense argument begun, which continues in the house, with both participants being very frustrated.
Shevade directs a short that revolves around two axes: commitment and cultural misunderstanding. The first one is the most obvious, with an argument that seems to be quite common in couples nowadays, regarding the start of a family. Subramaniyam feels that he wants to commit but does not want children, probably because he feels his career does not leave him much time for them. Jenny feels that the clock is ticking for her to be a mother, and is in desperate need for him to agree on having children, with a revelation in the film stressing this fact even more.
And although these kind of arguments are quite common in couples, Shevade adds the cultural element in the “feud”, highlighting the fact that Jenny does not fully understand her boyfriend's composure, a fact that comes out rather harshly when she states that Pakistan and India are the same thing, truly infuriating Subramaniyam.
In the end, however, Shevade makes a point of highlighting the fact that love conquers all.
The fight, which takes the largest part of the film, induces the production with an energy that serves its aesthetics quite well, and derives from Shevade's editing, but mostly through the nuanced performances of the two actors, Poorva Shivakumar and Alexandria Bond Crouse. The former, may have some issues with this articulation, but even that works quite well for the narrative, in essence stressing his frustration. Both actors are quite good in both the calm and the intense moments and their chemistry is obvious, actually caring the film for the most part.
Valfrie Tabian Jr's cinematography is adequate, although I felt that some scenes could do with a bit less lighting. His framing, however, is quite good. The music is fitting, with its subtle, emotional tones stressing the sense Shevade wanted to give to each scene.
“Peppermint” is a very hopeful short, which seems to work on a contextual, aesthetic, and technical level. Personally, I would like to see Shevade shooting a feature that will linger between the drama and the romance, exploring the themes he begun to analyze in “Peppermint” more thoroughly.
