Rizwann Sikander : Must-watch lockdown-themed short films

The lockdown’s given time for many people to get creative and produce innovative short films. Two such films are Atmanirbhar and Kala Chashma 2.0, featuring Rizwann Sikander.

Atmanirbhar:

Rizwann Sikander has starred in, written, and directed Atmanirbhar, a 9.5 minute smartphone short-film. RS Entertainment produced the film in association with Postman Studioz. The film’s been edited by Ajay Varma, while the music is by Kunal Iyengar and photography headed by Adikesh Bhargava. Chaitanya Kanhaai takes credit for screenplay and dialogues, while Tapasvi Asija was the DI. The film explores how the lockdown has impacted people’s mental health. It also aims to propel Indian PM Modi’s Atmanirbhar movement, and highlight Indians’ growing self-reliance.

Atmanirbhar literally translates to ‘self-reliance’. The film features Rizwann Sikander in multiple roles in the film, playing different versions of the same man. All of them are expressions of the various facets of the mind that are coping with the lockdown in different ways. One has a negative outlook on everything- fearing for his financial stability, mental health, freedom, and so on. The others share their positive perspectives with him. The film delves into the different feelings that people experience during these unprecendented times, and also how to deal with those feelings.

Atmanirbhar has received great support on YouTube and can be accessed here.

Kala Chashma 2.0:

Atmanirbhar - Rizwann Sikander — ***Atmanirbhar***

Kala Chashma 2.0, which can be accessed here, is the second film. It also stars Rizwann Sikander, as well as Girish Sharma, Ankit Sharma, Roni Banerjee, Anand Ray, Sri Mirajkar and Vick Krishna. The music was composed and sung by Girish Sharma, sound engineering and background score by Chetan Davdra, and mix & mastered by Jayant Sankla. Voice-over was by Alexander Francisco Matos and Aadi Pandey. Phimoments created the poster for Atmanirbhar. The movie was produced by Sara Jahan Films and Film Ride, edited by Praveen Prasanthan, and written & directed by Nidhi Kathuria. The actors have put this ‘Groundhog Day’ themed film together from across the US and India.

The dark-comedy film features seven friends sitting in a room together during the pandemic and going through the motions of 2020, while sharing drinks, laughing, and cracking jokes about the lockdown with each other. The antics as well as the banter of the 7 drunk men with their ‘Kala Chashmas’ on, make this film entertaining. It’s a little over 13 minutes long, and has also been shot in black-and-white. While Atmanirbhar is a practical, psychological take on the lockdown, Kala Chashma 2.0 is a humorous one.

Kala Chashma 2.0 draws inspiration from a made-at-home short film, Kala Chashma. This film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Rajnikanth, Ranbir Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra, Alia Bhatt, Chiranjeevi, Mohanlal, Mammootty, Sonalee Kulkarni, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Shiva Rajkumar and Diljit Dosanjh. Prasoon Pandey virtually directed Kala Chashma .