Giving it a Short

Cinematographer Baba Azmi directs his first short film, to be screened at a Mumbai short films festival.

Baba Azmi is a well-known name in cinematography, with movies such as Arjun, Dil and Mr India to his credit. However, for a long time he stayed away from donning the director's hat. "I needed a good idea," he says candidly. When he found one, he decided to make a short film on it. It also helped that he had a couple of months off between his last project Miley Na Miley Hum and his TV assignment Satyamev Jayate, and he decided to make a short film in that duration.

Conesty, a 21-minute Hindi short film by Azmi, is a story of a yogi and his kidnapper, played by Om and Shakeel Khan respectively. "Conesty is about some life-changing conversations between a famous yogic guru and his kidnapper, while waiting for the ransom money to arrive. In these few minutes, the yogi manages to teach the hot-headed, foul-mouthed kidnapper some valuable lessons of life. In turn, the yogi too manages to accidentally learn something good from his boorish captor," says Azmi.

The film will be showcased at the Mumbai Shorts International Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place on December 16, from 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. Next, Azmi wants to make a feature film and, currently, he is working on finalising a script.

ALSO READ

The Phalke Talkies

Stars & Gripes

Multilayered City

Go Going Blond