Was excited to try short film format: Atul Kulkarni

Critically acclaimed actor Atul Kulkarni, who features in one of the short films which are part of the anthology movie "Shor Se Shuruaat", says he was interested to explore the format which offers limited screen space and time.

Atul, who features in "Azad" -- one of the seven indie projects that make up HumaraMovie banner's "Shor Se Shuruaat", said in a statement: "I had never worked in a short format, so I was pretty excited to try this form of storytelling."

"As far as the subject of the film is concerned, it's extremely relevant. The movie deals with freedom of speech, and its inconveniences.

"As far as my role is concerned, in a short film, how and what you conceive is different from a feature film. You are supposed to convey the entire story in 20 to 25 minutes since there's only so much screen space and time. It doesn't have the luxury of many scenes and that kind of operation."

On his role as Azad, he said: "The character is pretty simple. I play a part time journalist, who speaks his mind. There's a parallel story line that depicts his estranged relationship with his son, so there are two very interesting tracks within the short."

All projects in the anthology are based on a common theme of 'shor' (noise).

Vinay Mishra, co-founder of HumaraMovie, said: "Shorts are a great way for big names to try something new and to experiment. Unfortunately, we don't see much of that from the big names. It would be great if they used their stature to push the envelope rather than use shorts to do more of the same.

"Their involvement, be it Sanjay Mishra, Atul Kulkarni, Sakshi Tanwar as actors, or Mira Nair, Shyam Benegal, Imtiaz Ali as mentors, or Gulzar sahab or Rekha Bhardwaj singing, has definitely given a much-needed impetus to a project like 'Shor Se Shuruaat. When big names like this are passionate about doing something new, then it gives a tremendous boost to the medium and the people around."

--IANS

rb/bg