Helmed by Randeep Jha, Kartaa follows the story of a real-estate agent.
Anurag Kashyap has always made sure he stands out in a crowd with his unconventional brand of filmmaking. The highly acclaimed filmmaker has now made it a point to back strong content-driven projects too and his new short film, directed by Randeep Jha, is no exception. Titled Kartaa, the intense short follows the story of a real-estate agent Akhilesh (Digambar Parasad) who is struggling to make ends meet in the highly competitive industry.
Much like the cinema of Kashyap, 20-minutes long Kartaa is a tautly written short film that is truthful, realistic and hard-hitting in its approach towards Akhilesh’s life. The film opens with a shady conversation about a property between Akhilesh and Virendar (Hareesh Chhabra) where despite the lack of a context, we feel the gravitas of the situation. By choosing to focus on smaller everyday conversations, rather than a larger narrative, the makers have succeeded in making the viewers understand the deplorable condition that Akhilesh is in.
We later get to know how Akhilesh is struggling to close real-estate deals and is even burdened by heavy debts. You are left fishing for a small ray of hope in Akhilesh’s life but when his son is thrown out of school and even his family turns away from him, you somewhere know that there is no going back. While Randeep Jha and Adamya Bhalla have done a great job with the script, actor Digambar Prasad manages to hold your attention in every frame he appears in. He has a certain eloquent and earthy quality to his mannerisms. The scene where he tricks his son from meeting his school principal is uplifted exponentially with his brilliant craft. That coupled with Bhalla’s concise dialogues is able to evoke emotions from even one-sided conversations between Prasad and Siddarth Bharadwaj.
Speaking of the cinematography and editing, some shots from Kartaa truly stand out. There is a lasting shot over Prasad’s face where he is just twirling and twitching in his bed. And only after the climax do we realise how much importance the scene holds for Akhilesh. Kartaa (The Provider) does not choose to comment or provide a solution to Akhilesh’s quandary and that is probably the best thing about this short film.