Pratik Gandhi starrer short film ‘Shimmy’ recently commenced streaming on the ad-based & subscription-free OTT platform Amazon miniTV. Helmed by debutante director Disha Noyonika Rindani, ‘Shimmy’ is a beautifully executed story that effectively portrays the father-daughter relationship.
The roughly 23-minute short film follows a day in the life of a single father Amol Parekh (Pratik Gandhi) and her 11-year-old daughter Raima (Chahat Tewani), whose mother has apparently left them for someone else. When the daughter gets into an awkward situation and badly needs a female companion, her father elegantly handles the situation which strengthens their emotional bond. The film is blessed with an effortless act by ‘Scam 1992’ actor Pratik Gandhi and Chahat Tewani essays the daughter’s part well. Pratik Gandhi’s wife Bhamini Oza Gandhi too plays an important part in the film.
‘Shimmy’ is being well received by critics and audiences alike, which further substantiates the notion that short films is a segment that has myriad takers in the Indian OTT space. Previously also, some star-studded short films helmed by first-rate filmmakers had made a mark. These include the likes of Ranbir Kapoor starrer ‘Karma’, Sujoy Ghosh’s ‘Ahalya’ starring Radhika Apte, ‘Interior Café Night’ starring Naseeruddin Shah, ‘Ouch’ starring Manoj Bajpayee, Anurag Kashyap’s ‘That Day After Everyday’, ‘Natkhat’ starring Vidya Balan, and ‘Devi’ starring Kajol.
Unfortunately, the release of even well-made shorts, until recently, have escaped Indian audiences’ attention owing to theatrical release financial non-viability due to their shorter lengths, and secondly because of lack of aggressive marketing for certain valid reasons.
Earlier, the reach of these fine short films used to be limited. An apparent solution to the quandary which Indian and global filmmakers have been recently resorting to is undertaking the middle-ground approach of packaging a collection of short films into an anthology format. For instance, anthology films like ‘Paava Kadhaigal’, ‘Ajeeb Daastaans’, ‘Navarasa’, and the more recent ‘Ankahi Kahaniya’ are steps taken in the right direction.
Having said that, with the advent of streaming giants such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Disney+ Hotstar, the reach of short films like ‘Shimmy’ has dramatically increased, which has enabled them to even go for solo releases sans the anthology format. A few days back, another short film ‘Ek Jhalak’ featuring Amit Sadh was also released on the Amazon miniTV OTT platform.
Coming back to the Pratik Gandhi starrer short film ‘Shimmy’, it’s a movie that needs to be seen because of the heart-warming plot, terrific lead performances and with a runtime of merely 23 minutes. You can watch it for free this weekend via the miniTV section on your Amazon smartphone app.
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