The pandemic has shut us all indoors, but it has not stopped the creative heads from showcasing their creativity. Equipped with nothing more than cameras, and a head full of ideas, filmmakers have started producing films at home. What may have seemed like an impossible task a year ago, the concept of home-made movies has been fuelled by the quarantine and given birth to a completely new genre.
Ranging from horror to heart-warming to biographical, let’s look at some of the best films that have been brewed up in isolation:
- Family (Prasoon Pandey)
Amitabh Bachchan in ‘Family’. Directed virtually by Prasoon Pandey, several A-listers and stalwarts of Bollywood and regional film industries – Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth, Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Alia Bhatt, Chiranjeevi, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Sonalee Kulkarni, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Shiva Rajkumar and Diljit Dosanjh – have come together for this one. The film is shot on phone and in black and white to create fluidity. Released in the initial weeks of lockdown, the film gives an important message to stay at home.
- Listen to Her (Nandita Das)
Nandita Das in her directed film ‘ Listen to Her’. The short film starring Nandita Das and her son along with the voices of Ali Fazal, Amruta Subhash, Swanand Kirkire, and Sandesh Kulkarni, is a call for help against domestic violence. The film voices the plight of several women stuck in troubled and abusive homes during the pandemic.
- Banana Bread (Nandita Das)
Rasika Duggal and Mukul Chadda in ‘Banana Bread’. Nandita Das brings in the longing for friendship, one seeks in isolation beautifully in ‘Banana Bread’. The Rasika Duggal and Mukul Chadda-starrer show an odd friendship between two strangers who happen to be neighbours. The film leaves many flavours as it unfolds and redefines the norms of social distancing.
- Our Iranian Lockdown (Sara Khaki and Mohammad Reza Eyni)
A scene from ‘Our Iranian Lockdown’. Iranian filmmakers Sara Khaki and Mohammad Reza Eyni share a slice of their lives in quarantine, through this film. The film is premised in the backdrop of the coronavirus spread in Tehran. It reveals the emotional turmoil the couple experiences as they try to cope up with the loss of their family member to Covid-19.
- Lockdown 28 (Vesyee)
A scene from Vesyee’s award-winning ‘Lockdown 28’. Filmmaker Vesyee who has a Youtube channel by the same name, made Lockdown 28 along with his younger brother who’s acted in the film. The three-and-a-half-minute short film creates tension and trepidation. Vesyee, through his film, captures the eagerness to get out and leaves the audience with a powerful message in the end. Vesyee won many accolades for the film – Best Director ‘Social Distance Film Festival’ and Best Trailer at TMFF The Monthly Film Festival’- to name a few.
- Stuck (Maria Leon)
Stephanie Roels in ‘Stuck’. Stuck, as its rolling credits say, was made by each crew member from home. Stephanie Roels displays the mental agony of a woman desperate to get out of home, fully conscious of her responsibility as a citizen during a global crisis. The film juxtaposes the torment of being in isolation with the importance of doing so. Maria Leon calls it an ‘ode to creativity and to inspire people that beautiful things can happen no matter the restrictions we face’.
These films are the ones we have watched among many others that have been created in quarantine. Tell us some more that you have watched!