Venue: Boheme, Vasant Vihar
Date: 7 August, 2015

Shamiana is one of the film societies that created an audience for short films through fairly regular screenings across NCR. We have attended many of their screenings at IHC, Epicentre, Iron Curtain etc. in the past.

They had gone underground in the Delhi circle for the last two years or so. We were therefore very excited to receive a FB invite from Shamiana for an evening of short films at Boheme, Vasant Vihar. Boheme is located on third floor in D block market, Vasant Vihar. Though the venue was hep, buzzing with youngsters and all, it can be very challenging for elders.  No lift and climbing three stories is no mean task.

The screenings were scheduled at 7 p.m. on a Friday evening. Given the heavy rain that lashed South Delhi, a lot of people turned up late for the event. Partially wet and breathless, when we entered Boheme, we saw most of the seats were taken. Somehow we managed to get hold a couple of stools to rest our posteriors for the next two hours or so. People who came in later had to stand. We ordered a couple of drinks as they were yet to start the screenings.

For the films, they had arranged a small makeshift screen and a projector.  After a brief introduction about Shamiana and their sponsor YES Foundation they started the event. They screened 5 films (3 Indian and 2 foreign) for a total duration of less than one and a half hours. Among the shorts they screened was “Int.Cafe” starring Nasiruddin Shah and Shernaz Patel as the lead pair. Sadly the plot was clichéd and the lines, the acting and even the climax was predictable. The remaining films were also lacklustre. In fact two of the films were not in English/Hindi (Including the Oscar nominated “Baghdad Messi”). Given that the screen was not big enough and the room not dark, the subtitles were not readable. Sadly we will have to search and watch these movies again on Youtube, if available. Among the remaining two, the Australian film “Leela” about a painter and her imaginative art was decent.

It was an interesting evening in a cozy upmarket cafe on a rainy evening and we appreciate Shamiana’s effort towards conceptualising such screenings and encouraging budding talent for making shorts. However they should work on selecting venues carefully and should go back to reviving their expert skills with which they used to choose and present unique short films earlier.