These days, the word lockdown, has many negative associations including loneliness and being cooped at home. Many directors took to making short films during this time which focussed on the pain and the isolation of people. Young director, Vidhyaa B, however, made a short film, Oh Fish, which talks about people learning to cope despite the challenges of lockdown.

Produced by Kettles Studios, Oh Fish was released on August 28. The film, stars Dheekshith Shetty (of Dia film fame) and Vainidhi Jagdish. Vainidhi is the daughter of actor Jai Jagdish and director Vijaylakshmi Singh and was part of Yaana. The bilingual film (Kannada and Telugu) is available on YouTube.

Vidhyaa, who has also written and produced the film, says it is a creative collaboration between artistes from various fields of entertainment. “I made the film during the lockdown to keep myself occupied. There was no creative outlet at all during that time. We did follow all the safety protocols and the film was made over various calls between cast and crew. That is why I call this film a ‘lockdown special’.”

The nine-minute Oh Fish, talks of a young boy and girl who live alone and how love blossoms between them over video calls. The couple meet virtually due to a deliver boy’s mix up in their orders. The boy having recently returned from abroad, is in quarantine. The films also shows how we as social beings constantly keep in touch with friends and family using technology.

“Though it was easy to film it, putting the logistics together challenging as the cinematographer is from Mumbai and the set designer in Kolkata,” shares the director.

Oh Fish has music by Sreenidhi Venkat while Shashaa Tirupati and Sanjith Hegde have sung the background score. “The film provided us with a creative outlet. Inspired by renewed and new connections made this gives you a peek into some of the sweet friendships that resulted.” Vidhyaa has always been passionate about films and has also worked with directors like Maniratnam as an associate for Five Star.