Shuruaat Ka Interval, a first-of-its-kind anthology of short films to release on PVR Rare

As it readies for a theatrical release this month, Shuruaat Ka Interval is a collection of about 10 short films under 15 minutes each. Hand-picked as part of a contest by Humaramovie to mentor filmmakers, the name of the film is a combination of the name of the festival and the theme for the festival’s first edition - Interval - hence Shuruaat Ka Interval. The film is schedule to release on August 8 under PVR Director’s Rare in select cities.

Humaramovie is an online channel for short films that is creating a theatrical platform for short filmmakers as a logical progression. A three-year-old initiative, “Shuruaat”, a festival provides such an opportunity to a large pool of filmmakers whose dream is to see their movies make it to the theatre screens. Out of the 44 screenplays Humaramovie organizers initially received from a contest they floated, the shortlisted 11 filmmakers were mentored by none other than Anand Gandhi, Vikramaditya Motwane, Vikash Bahl and Imtiaz Ali. They also got script guidance from Kshiti Nijhawan Agrawal, Ritesh Shah, Bijesh Jayarajan and Rajashree. Humaramovie is also planning to release a DVD featuring all the films that made it to the final list.

But is the audience ready to watch such films in theatres? Humaramovie is banking on its close to 40,000 subscribers. But what may draw the audience to the theaters is that the viewers will also be given the task of choosing the best film. The film that gets maximum recommendations will be awarded Rs 1 lakh. If this initiative works out, it may as well be a way out to the scores of short film makers who dreams to see their projects on screen. Hope this initiative works out to their benefit. But jostling their way to the screen is another big tussle forward for them.