After watching these films, one gets the feeling that every film may or may not have a love story, but love shouldn't be the only subject of a film. It's nice to have some fluffy cream over a cake, but what if there is no cake and fluff is all that you get ? Well, that's pretty much 'Feels Like Ishq'.
1. SAVE THE DA(Y)TE
A rich family, wedding, bride develops cold feet on the day of her marriage and runs away, a boy and a girl discuss pros and cons of marriage and then fall in love with each other. Add a lot of production value to these two lines and that's all what you have in the first short film. Why is this kind of cinema still being made in India ? Why are we accepting these nonsense films ? Are we as an audience that shallow ? We have seen these stories a number of times and have got bored of them. It's time directors and writers tried something new. There are no issues as far as acting is concerned, Radhika Madan and Amol Parashar are fine actors, who deserve better scripts.
2. QUARANTEEN CRUSH
One of the better films of the series, not entirely believable but still not as bad as some of the other ones. I just wonder, is it even possible for someone to sneak out food from the house for their neighbour every day without their mother getting a whiff of it ? It's a feel good film where everything happens way too easily for our protagonist, but one can't deny that it was quite an enjoyable watch. It's a film where you can figure out what's going to happen next and then it actually happens. There are no twists in the tale, the film was clearly made with the intention of bringing a smile on the face of it's viewers, and it definitely succeeded in doing that. The lead pair of Mihir Ahuja and Kajol Chugh have done a pretty good job of portraying sweet innocent love, but the other couple of the film, Kavita Pais and Jaipreet Singh, playing the role of Maninder's parents have performed even better. Another highlight of the film is it's music, composed by Ashutosh Phatak, Ayushmann Khurrana and Sameer Kaushal. 'Quaranteen Crush' is exactly the kind of story that in Ayushmaan Khurrana's words would be called a 'Vanilla Film'.
3. STAR HOST
A good looking boy and a pretty girl meet accidentally, then fight with each other, girl is scared of insects, girl is scared of water, boy helps girl in finding her adventurous self who isn't scared of anything, boy learns to live in the moment and cherish the beauty that surrounds him, and then they fall in love with each other. And all this takes place in one day. This short film has a cliché storyline, inspired from multiple other films and to top it all, the actors were clearly chosen on the basis of their looks and not exactly for their acting talent. When you are given a short film format, you should try something unique, there's no point in rehashing the same stories that have been told a thousand times already. Star Host has been helmed by Anand Tiwari, and yet it comes across as a lazy effort.
4. SHE LOVES ME, SHE LOVES ME NOT
It was quite a surprise to see Sanjeeta Bhattacharya act in a film, after having seen her in the Berklee music videos. It's nice to see Sanjeeta, who plays Muskaan, break the fourth wall every now and then, just like 'Fleabag'. This short film is the slowest of all, and ends in a fairly simple manner just like most of the short films. 'She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not' has all the colours of a rainbow and looks extremely beautiful but falls short in the screenplay department, and as a result doesn't really make for a great watch. I just feel all these filmmakers are heavily inspired by Yash Chopra, Karan Johar kind of filmmaking. There's nothing wrong if a creator pays a lot of attention in making his/her film colourful and stylish, 'Taika Waititi' does that as well, but that's not the reason why his film's stand out. The real strength of a film lies in it's script, that's the real cake, everything else is more like decoration and icing on the cake. You can't hide the shallowness of your script by adding hundreds of bright colours to each frame. Maybe I was expecting a lot from this, after having seen how Neeraj Ghaywan presented a story of two lesbians in 'Geeli Pucchi', which had brilliance written all over it.
5. INTERVIEW
With this short film, the series comes back to the real world. This is the only story that doesn't come across as contrived and shallow, and is easily the best film of the series. A good filmmaker always aims to make content that engages the audience, and this film manages to capture your attention right from the start and keeps you invested in the story of its two protagonists till the end. It's quite amazing to see how writer Arati Raval and director Sachin Kundalkar have managed to narrate a story with multiple layers in such a short time. Neeraj Madhav, who had already made his mark in the Hindi Film Industry with 'The Family Man', has given a splendid performance once again playing the role of Rajeev. The scene where he realizes that Shahana is not being honest with him, and calls out her lie, gives you an idea how special this actor is. On the other hand, there is Zayn Marie Khan, who takes you by surprise with her confident portrayal of Shahana. It's difficult to believe that this girl has barely done a film or two in her career, but it's true. This short film is a good example to show that all that you need to make a good film is a story that connects with the audience and actors who can act. This one is a must watch for everyone.
6. ISHQ MASTANA
I was really looking forward to this short film, just because it had Tanya Maniktala in it. But unfortunately, it turned out to be the weakest of all the films. Love against the backdrop of politics and activism could have made for an interesting watch, but all that this short film offers is a half-heartedly written story and some below par acting. Also, at just over 20 minutes, this is the shortest story of the series, which just gives you a sense that the creative team of this film might not have been that creative after all. To be fair, a concept like this needs a longer runtime. The only good thing about this film is the song 'Haman Hai Ishq Mastana', which stays with you for some time.
Writers and directors need to come up with fresh ideas. Gloss and bright colours in the frame cannot save a poorly written script. I agree, all kinds of movies should be made and accepted, but if you are rejecting stories just because you want all your films to be as cheesy and superficial as "Feels Like Ishq", then you are definitely making a mistake. I get that the idea was to make light hearted entertaining short films, but your first priority as a filmmaker should be to make engaging content, everything else follows after that. Also, Netflix, please understand that not all stories can be told in such a short run time. So please allow the filmmakers some breathing space in future, you would be surprised by the difference a few additional minutes can make to a project. A good example of that would be "Geeli Pucchi" from 'Ajeeb Daastaans'.
1. SAVE THE DA(Y)TE
A rich family, wedding, bride develops cold feet on the day of her marriage and runs away, a boy and a girl discuss pros and cons of marriage and then fall in love with each other. Add a lot of production value to these two lines and that's all what you have in the first short film. Why is this kind of cinema still being made in India ? Why are we accepting these nonsense films ? Are we as an audience that shallow ? We have seen these stories a number of times and have got bored of them. It's time directors and writers tried something new. There are no issues as far as acting is concerned, Radhika Madan and Amol Parashar are fine actors, who deserve better scripts.
2. QUARANTEEN CRUSH
One of the better films of the series, not entirely believable but still not as bad as some of the other ones. I just wonder, is it even possible for someone to sneak out food from the house for their neighbour every day without their mother getting a whiff of it ? It's a feel good film where everything happens way too easily for our protagonist, but one can't deny that it was quite an enjoyable watch. It's a film where you can figure out what's going to happen next and then it actually happens. There are no twists in the tale, the film was clearly made with the intention of bringing a smile on the face of it's viewers, and it definitely succeeded in doing that. The lead pair of Mihir Ahuja and Kajol Chugh have done a pretty good job of portraying sweet innocent love, but the other couple of the film, Kavita Pais and Jaipreet Singh, playing the role of Maninder's parents have performed even better. Another highlight of the film is it's music, composed by Ashutosh Phatak, Ayushmann Khurrana and Sameer Kaushal. 'Quaranteen Crush' is exactly the kind of story that in Ayushmaan Khurrana's words would be called a 'Vanilla Film'.
3. STAR HOST
A good looking boy and a pretty girl meet accidentally, then fight with each other, girl is scared of insects, girl is scared of water, boy helps girl in finding her adventurous self who isn't scared of anything, boy learns to live in the moment and cherish the beauty that surrounds him, and then they fall in love with each other. And all this takes place in one day. This short film has a cliché storyline, inspired from multiple other films and to top it all, the actors were clearly chosen on the basis of their looks and not exactly for their acting talent. When you are given a short film format, you should try something unique, there's no point in rehashing the same stories that have been told a thousand times already. Star Host has been helmed by Anand Tiwari, and yet it comes across as a lazy effort.
4. SHE LOVES ME, SHE LOVES ME NOT
It was quite a surprise to see Sanjeeta Bhattacharya act in a film, after having seen her in the Berklee music videos. It's nice to see Sanjeeta, who plays Muskaan, break the fourth wall every now and then, just like 'Fleabag'. This short film is the slowest of all, and ends in a fairly simple manner just like most of the short films. 'She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not' has all the colours of a rainbow and looks extremely beautiful but falls short in the screenplay department, and as a result doesn't really make for a great watch. I just feel all these filmmakers are heavily inspired by Yash Chopra, Karan Johar kind of filmmaking. There's nothing wrong if a creator pays a lot of attention in making his/her film colourful and stylish, 'Taika Waititi' does that as well, but that's not the reason why his film's stand out. The real strength of a film lies in it's script, that's the real cake, everything else is more like decoration and icing on the cake. You can't hide the shallowness of your script by adding hundreds of bright colours to each frame. Maybe I was expecting a lot from this, after having seen how Neeraj Ghaywan presented a story of two lesbians in 'Geeli Pucchi', which had brilliance written all over it.
5. INTERVIEW
With this short film, the series comes back to the real world. This is the only story that doesn't come across as contrived and shallow, and is easily the best film of the series. A good filmmaker always aims to make content that engages the audience, and this film manages to capture your attention right from the start and keeps you invested in the story of its two protagonists till the end. It's quite amazing to see how writer Arati Raval and director Sachin Kundalkar have managed to narrate a story with multiple layers in such a short time. Neeraj Madhav, who had already made his mark in the Hindi Film Industry with 'The Family Man', has given a splendid performance once again playing the role of Rajeev. The scene where he realizes that Shahana is not being honest with him, and calls out her lie, gives you an idea how special this actor is. On the other hand, there is Zayn Marie Khan, who takes you by surprise with her confident portrayal of Shahana. It's difficult to believe that this girl has barely done a film or two in her career, but it's true. This short film is a good example to show that all that you need to make a good film is a story that connects with the audience and actors who can act. This one is a must watch for everyone.
6. ISHQ MASTANA
I was really looking forward to this short film, just because it had Tanya Maniktala in it. But unfortunately, it turned out to be the weakest of all the films. Love against the backdrop of politics and activism could have made for an interesting watch, but all that this short film offers is a half-heartedly written story and some below par acting. Also, at just over 20 minutes, this is the shortest story of the series, which just gives you a sense that the creative team of this film might not have been that creative after all. To be fair, a concept like this needs a longer runtime. The only good thing about this film is the song 'Haman Hai Ishq Mastana', which stays with you for some time.
Writers and directors need to come up with fresh ideas. Gloss and bright colours in the frame cannot save a poorly written script. I agree, all kinds of movies should be made and accepted, but if you are rejecting stories just because you want all your films to be as cheesy and superficial as "Feels Like Ishq", then you are definitely making a mistake. I get that the idea was to make light hearted entertaining short films, but your first priority as a filmmaker should be to make engaging content, everything else follows after that. Also, Netflix, please understand that not all stories can be told in such a short run time. So please allow the filmmakers some breathing space in future, you would be surprised by the difference a few additional minutes can make to a project. A good example of that would be "Geeli Pucchi" from 'Ajeeb Daastaans'.