Ekta Kapoor’s ‘Shorr’ at 2010 MIAAC Film Festival

Mumbai is about grit, drama, passion – and the luck of the draw. The new movie ‘Noise/Shorr’ follows three very different lives during the frenzy of the Ganesh Chaturti Festival in the city – and finally these disparate stories come together in the gripping climax. ‘Shorr’ embodies the high energy the city is famous for and keeps you thoroughly engaged. And indeed Mumbai is a central character in the film, around which the various tales are interwoven.

After the premiere of ‘Shorr’ at the MIAAC Film Festival in New York, there was the opportunity to meet the cast and crew. The film is produced by Alt Entertainment, a division of Balaji Motion Pictures headed by Ekta Kapoor, and which recently produced the runaway success ‘Love, Sex aur Dhokha.’

As Somi Roy, Festival Director, observed, “It evolved from a short film – filmmaking is such a collaborative effort and we’ve been able to follow the genesis and evolution of this film since 2008 when ‘Shorr’ won the best short film at the MIAAC Festival.”

For Indian-Americans, the story has some interesting sub-text, as both filmmakers, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, are from the US. Many film-goers will remember their first film ‘Flavors’, and their first Hindi film ‘99’ which became a big box-office hit in India.

I had interviewed them back in 2003 when they were new filmmakers, fresh from making ‘Flavors’ and it’s interesting to see how careers turn out and how some prophecies come true.