Passion in expression: Director Chintan Sarda, whose short film The Broken Table has a long shot at the Oscars, says getting renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah onboard was a pleasant surprise

Mona

Very early in life, Gujarati boy Chintan Sarda realised that aptitude and passion were two different things. Fond of performing arts, he kept it as a hobby; he explored a career in finance, moving base to Mumbai, followed by London. But when the call of films got too strong, at the age of 22, he left corporate life to train in filmmaking.

Almost a decade later, he is directing commercials and shorts; co-writing and been the assisting director on mega projects. He worked as Second Unit director on Jio Studio’s web series Inspector Avinash, starring Randeep Hooda. Chintan directed, wrote and produced the short film Shunyata with Jackie Shroff in the lead role. He has worked as an assistant director in films like Don 2, Tere Bin Laden 2, The Shaukeens and Raaz 2.

Proud moment

All his efforts have now paid off as his short film The Broken Table, starring renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah and acclaimed actor Rasika Dugal, triumphed at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival. This has catapulted it to the international pool of short films that will be considered by the jury at Oscars!

Playing mentor at 75 Creative Minds at the ongoing International Film Festival of India at Goa, Chintan takes a moment to reflect on his cinematic journey.

“Films have been my calling, especially writing and directing, I have managed to be a part of the entertainment ecosystem for a decade now,” says the filmmaker. His The Broken Table turned out to be rather a long process. “A friend of mine talked about an old man suffering from Alzheimer’s and how he would forget that his wife was no more. And in an effort to find her, he would re-live the pain again and again. This bit stayed with me for a while till I wrote the story along with Vikram Gupta.

Getting renowned actor Naseeruddin Shah on board was an achievement too. “I discussed the script with Rasika Dugal, whom I have known for a while, and through her I approached Naseer saheb. When he came onboard within a day of reading the script, it was a shock as well as a pleasant surprise.” What followed was reading sessions at Naseeruddin Shah’s home, and then the long Covid wait. “We altered the script, had our set of disagreements, but the final outcome is what we all agreed upon.”

Dream run

Now that the film has won at Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, Chintan is dreaming of Oscar glory. “The winning films from the Indian and International competition sections are automatically eligible for consideration in the Live-Action Short Film Category of the Academy Awards, without standard theatrical run, provided the film complies with the stringent Academy rules. Now, like major studios, I neither have big budgets or PR paraphernalia, but I am still hopeful that the film creates the buzz and catches the jury’s eye,” he has his fingers crossed!