Zindagi inShort (film) is a 2020 anthology streaming on Netflix. This seven-part anthology is directed by 7 different directors. In this article, we are not going to focus on the information that you can easily find online. Instead, we are going to focus on why such an anthology is important for any industry. What does it give you that a traditional cinema is often unable to?
Of late we have seen that series like “Easy” or “Black Mirror” has created a niche audience for themselves. It is intriguing and the general audience had not been exposed to something so experimental and unconventional. That is the might of a digital portal like Netflix. It creates a mixture that we had longed for. A mixture that has the right amount of spices and texture. Where on one side you will find extremely commercial content but on the other, you would also find something like a ‘Ballad Of Buster Scruggs.” It is this delicate balance that will decide the sustainability of the portal in the future.
Our Millennial Life
The seven different takes on life take you through that nitty-gritty of life that we often miss. We are so busy chasing those big dreams that we often forget to appreciate the small moments of life. That little nod of appreciation, that little gesture, telling somebody that you did notice, sometimes makes all the difference. Sometimes it is important to just listen to the person. Your attention might mean the world to them. Living in a metro city I have often seen that we just take relationships for granted. May it be with your parents or with your partner. Sometimes I see the earlier generation and learn how to treasure relationships. Actually, this generation has become too busy. We do things for material gain or for a materialistic purpose. We have forgotten how to do things just for fun or just because it would mean the world to someone.
I felt that there was a sense of nostalgia, a sense of fear, a sense of insecurity, a sense of how obscure life could be, that binds all the shorts together. Though it just takes a few hours to travel to another corner of the world today and we all are connected through social media, still it feels that we are worlds apart.
Freedom like No Other
Many people often do not understand the use of a 15 min film. It is a kind of challenge I believe, to sum up, life in those 15-20 mins. It is a complete circle in itself. What it gives a filmmaker is to be experimental and go berzerk. There is no audience that you are specifically catering to. That removes the “market’ from the equation. Not everybody is as strong-willed, stubborn, and passionate as a Jean Luc Godard or a Francois Truffault. Filmmakers succumb to the needs of the market. But in a short, they get the freedom to explore the corners for which they originally came into this field. They get to experiment with the composition and the ingredients of every scene. The basic notion that they are not bound by the sensibilities of the masses and the mad race of procuring profits which butcher creativity, ultimately becomes a bliss for every creator and performer.
With my favorite being “Chajju ke Dahi Bhalle” out of the anthology, I think that Zindagi inShort (film) might not be as accomplished as a “Ballad of Buster Scruggs”, but surely it is a step in the right direction. Do give it a watch.
Zindagi inShort (film) is streaming on Netflix.
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