Liberating medium of internet gives push to short films, say experts

Kolkata, Jan 29 (IANS) Bollywood director and screenwriter Sujoy Ghosh, whose 14-minute short film "Ahalya" created a stir on the internet, feels the increased usage of internet and smartphones has brought about the new wave of making short films.

Talking on the emergence of short films in India, Ghosh said the internet has provided the short film makers with a perfect platform which was not there earlier.

"At the moment, when we make a short film, the internet is our only medium. The number of short films have significantly increased now as there is a medium to put it up for viewing. Earlier, if you made a short film, where would you put it up except for limited screenings at those little specialised film clubs?" Ghosh said at the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet on Sunday.

The famed director of the 2012 hit film "Kahaani", said internet would continue to be the main medium for short films as going to multiplex for a 15-minute film "would not be economical".

"For you to have a coffee and watch a short film in a multiplex, they would charge you a ticket and that ticket would not generally make sense for a 15-minute pleasure. So, the economics part of the matter would not make much sense," he said.

Lauding the fact that internet has no censorship, he said the short film makers should be given a certain amount of creative freedom to experiment, so that it strikes the viewers within the short span.

"With a short film, you have to give the maker a certain amount of creative freedom. If you don't do something interesting or out-of-the-box, then people are not going to talk about it. If they don't talk about it, you are dead. Then there is no point in making a short film," Ghosh said.

Bollywood actor Tisca Chopra, who produced "Chutney" and was a co-panelist in the talk show, said she finds short films to be more free and liberating where the maker can do away with the cliched requirements of popular cinema.

"Because the short films are sponsored in a way by somebody, the normal criteria of a film -- like having a star -- goes out of the window. The content tells you which person to cast or what music to put. There is more scope for experimentation," she said.

She also said micro-contents like short films are going to be the key in the future as the audience of today would pick and choose the time and content of what they want to see.

"I think micro content has a great future. People want to watch things at their own time and in their own pace. So growth of individualism is happening. Viewers are now deciding what they want to watch and when they want to watch it. That is what is so liberating about the internet," Chopra said.