E for Elephant, a film by Mujahed Siddiqui

A kid walking on the pavement and sauntering with his friends is what the film E for Elephant opens up to. The filmmaker does not promise to show a magic realism or an AI-inspired story to align the story with the current technological up gradation of our universe. It's a simple story of a boy wanting to go to school. It's a story of a boy being denied education. While other students are doing studies in a neighborhood school, the boy is reciting the alphabet from A to Z, but does not know what to say at E. He somehow lands at the school and is denied entry, trying to find the meaning of the word E. The story revolves around the word E and its ramifications.

Akshay Sakhare has played a mature parent of the kid. Naresh Gund is an eye of conscience many times in the film.

The government has plans, educational plans in all states, and NGOs like Teach for India and more areas doing their bit to shorten the gap in education. But, are we close to a comfortable figure of saying 100 percent of our population has access to education?

The kid is shown walking in the alleyways of today's Pune, the Kharadi area of the city, which is also home to Twin Towers and the IT setup.

It was heartening to see these scenes of simplicity and humble living played by Krishiv Choudhary, a debut child actor.

I loved the camera shots because a lot of the story was conveyed by low camera shots, which is courageous and risky at the same time. You want to be showing the entire frame of the character to create a presence on screen. The filmmaker and DOP have stuck to just legs or sometimes long shots to tell a zoomed-out story in a split second, before taking you into the detail. The music of the film by Akul Anandur and Amit Gupta is driving.

I loved the camera work, and the editing of the short film is as good. Naresh Gund plays the teacher at school, and he outdoes himself in any of his theatre work I have watched in the city. He keeps a soft expression full of deep genuineness, which connects instantly. Also, his dialogues are minimal,but the impact he creates in the film is immense. This 20-minute short film is pretty powerful and has a social message. But it resonates with its simplicity and tenderness of emotions. Sometimes stories with a heart hit home harder than the present tech upgrade in our universe; perhaps stories with a heart hit home every time. There were some blackouts in sound, I feel that could be avoided. Its a good make overall.

Credits

Cast: Krishiv Choudhary, Naresh Gund, Akshay Sakhare

Screenplay and Direction : by Mujahed Siddiqui

Photography : Anand Kumar Patil

Editor, Sound, Colorist : Pratik Madhuri

First Assistant Director : Shubham Badkas Music : Akul Anandar and Amit Gupta

Lyrics : Mujahed Siddiqui and Amit Gupta

Hair and Makeup : Akshta S. Palve

Production : Beautiful Mind Creations

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