“Once, I read somewhere that a woman had taken to prostitution since she was not able to recharge her daughter’s phone for her studies. The idea struck me and I talked to the artists and finally we worked on it.”
Surat-based writer-director Abhishek Galshar’s concept culminated in a 4 minute, 20 second Hindi movie on the scenario of a poor household throughout the Covid-induced nationwide lockdown. The film, titled ‘The Lockdown’, has been shortlisted for a showcase on the Festival De Cannes — scheduled for July 6-17.
The movie has already bagged awards of ‘Best Short Film’ within the Berlin Flash Film Awards and the Gold Movie Awards.Galshar selected the story of 1 household to focus on the issues center class and poor households confronted throughout the lockdown.
“How the Covid pandemic and later, the lockdown affected a poor family comprising a young couple and their child, who is a student, staying in a makeshift house. During lockdown, husband lost his job, and after two months of lockdown, when online education started, his wife forced herself into prostitution, to be able to afford to recharge her daughter’s mobile internet and pay the school fees,” stated Galshar.
Speaking concerning the lockdown, he stated: “I have seen people who faced great problems — majorly financial problems — during the lockdown and even after ‘Unlock 1.0 and 2.0’. Many people have lost their jobs, and school authorities demanded fees from the students. The lives of middle class and lower families were terrible.”
Neetu Tanwar performed the protagonist mom in ‘The Lockdown’ with Omprakash Prajapati enjoying her husband and Peehu Binjani enjoying her daughter.
The movie strikes via photographs in color to black and white as per the temper.
Galshar added, “We shot for three hours in one day at a place in Olpad town in Surat district, and one day for editing. I have got confirmation through mail from selection committee of Festival D. Cannes and event will take place in June or July month this year. I am also planning to put my short film in Goa Film Festival.”