The recent Delhi riots ended up with 53 individuals dead, and are considered the most lethal Hindu-Muslim riots since 1950. Aneek Chaudhuri directs a short that uses the riots as its base.
In very minimalist fashion, we watch a middle-aged man sitting on his chair, watching from the window, while the sounds of riots are heard all over. The camera then makes an hard zoom-in as he begins drinking from a cup. The camera moves back a bit again, and we watch him picking a cigarette and putting it in his mouth. He then realizes that he has only one last match available, but he cannot go out due to the riots. What he does, is call his wife and asks her to bring him matches on her way back, in a rather egoistical request since the riots are rather intense. In an effort to not hear the noise and pass the time until she returns, he puts some uplifting music and even starts dancing to it. Alas, his growing frustration is not soothed but for a few minutes. He then takes a nap, but when he wakes up, he stumbles upon the news.
Chaudhuri directs a minimalist short in monochrome, with a purpose of showing that violence in India is now an everyday phenomenon, with its consequences being more than dire. The man’s actions seem to state that there are still people who have not realized what is going on, a mentality that is bound to have consequences.
The focus is completely on Pawan Chopra, who plays the man, with DOP Shaurya Chopra having the camera on him all the time, except for the moment of climax during the finale, when the matchbox takes center stage, and the soft, elegiac music communicates the man’s feelings. Considering the fact that he only speaks once, Chopra is quite good in presenting his character’s psychological statuses through his movements, as we watch him emitting apathy, frustration and eventually despair.
The editing includes a number of black screens with text, one of which seems to communicate the thoughts of the man, in an overall style that reminds of old silent movies.
Despite that the short is briefer than 10 minutes and just includes a man inside a room, Chaudhuri manages to communicate his message quite eloquently despite these limitations, and also to entertain through the dramatic, if somewhat obvious ending.
