Next, Please is an 11-minute short film that was recently premiered at the Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2023. It stars Jim Sarbh, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Shardul Bharadwaj and is produced and written by Chaitanya Tamhane of Court and The Disciple fame. The idea is very simple. Rishav Kapoor’s direction is smooth and very engaging. Often, even short films can bore viewers. But this film is not one of those by miles. Visually, it’s stunning and it’s great to see such rich production values (production design by Anindya Choudhury-Bodo) in a short movie. It’s also a pleasant surprise to hear the song ‘Kadmon Mein Tere’, an unreleased song of Madan Mohan (and which I have heard throughout 2009) in this film; it gives a nice touch. The finale was a bit underwhelming. One wishes something more had happened. The performances of all three – Jim Sarbh, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Shardul Bharadwaj – are brilliant. Special mention should also go to Priya Seth’s cinematography and the VFX. All in all, Next, Please is a short film to watch out for!
My rating – **** out of 5!