Short film ‘Shimla 7’ stars young talent from city

Bhanu P Lohumi

A man driving through a bumpy road in the hills spots a woman stranded on the outskirts of Shimla, but to his utter surprise, he comes to know that the ‘stranger’ knows a lot about his personal life. He lands in her home where she lives alone and what happens next is the story of “Shimla 7”, a suspense thriller.

The short film of 27 minutes and 10 seconds duration, made by Ink Ingenious media in association with the Department of Journalism, Himachal Pradesh University, has been shot in the picturesque background of Shimla and its suburbs, Mashobra.

Written and directed by Anurag Anand and produced by Sandeep Kumar and Anurag Anand, the English film stars young talent from Himachal — Manish Sharma from Mandi and Himani Rawat from Shimla in lead roles while the crew is from the HPU. Shot in just seven days at a cost of Rs 12 lakh, the film is streaming live in the UK and the US on Amazon Prime and has got 17,000 views in two weeks besides 37,000 hits on YouTube.

Beauty can be deceptive and can land you in trouble is the message the film carries, says Anand who wrote the script, inspired by his personal experience. “Once I was driving through an isolated stretch from Jodhpur to Jaisalmer for a shoot and happened to give lift to a woman sitting on a milestone. The idea of a film struck my mind and that’s how it all started,” he adds.

“The film is very absorbing and viewers watch it without blinking a eye and I wish that the mystery gets revealed only when the viewers see the film from the start to the end,” Anand says without going into the details of the script.

This is the fourth film by Ink Ingenious media in association with the Department of Journalism, HPU. The earlier films being “Footsteps from the Hills,” “Yellow Bench” and “Interrogation Room”. Next in the pipeline is “I am your best friend” for which the location is being finalised.

Anand, who came to Shimla to make a series on “Ghost Stories of Shimla Hills” by Minakshi Chaudhry was impressed by the virgin talent of the students of journalism and ended up making four short films which are being aired on the Amazon prime channel where very few Indian shows get selected.

About the previous films

”Footsteps from the Hills” – It is a new-era love story in which the souls of two lovers who committed suicide talk about their journey, mistakes, fights and the role of the family members in separating them.

“A Yellow bench” – It is a horror film which revolves around a man who resumes his walk and sits at his favourite yellow bench after an accident. He meets an unknown girl who reveals his inner secrets to reveal that he accidentally killed her old friend after she refused her proposal and slapped him.

“An Interrogation Room” revolves around interrogation of a serial killer who is a woman. The movie takes a curious turn when a colleague during search finds out that the interrogator is one of the targets.