The Only Indian Film Competing At Cannes

‘Cinema is such a powerful medium. It is not just the emotional impact, but some of these films are so strong that your entire body cannot help but react.’

Two years ago, Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. This year, India has a very small presence at the world’s most prestigious film festival.

Kapadia will be back in Cannes as the jury president of the Critic’s Week section. But there is only one Indian film playing in all the official Cannes competition sections: Shadows of Moonless Nights (Parchave Masseah Rataan De in Punjabi). The festival will also screen a restored version of the classic Malayalam film Amma Ariyan (1986).

The director of the short film Shadows of Moonless Nights is Mehar Malhotra , a 26-year-old graduate of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune. Her 24-minute-long film will play in the La Cinef section that highlights student films from around the world.

Kapadia’s short Afternoon Clouds played in La Cinie section in 2017. Two FTII students’ films have won the top prize at La Cinef — Catdog (2020) by Ashmita Guha Neogi and Sunflowers Were the First One to Know… (2024) by Chidananda S Naik. British Indian filmmaker Asif Kapadia won the second prize in the section for his short The Sheep Thief (1998), which he directed with a team of FTII students.

Shadows of Moonless Nights is a beautiful short about a young man named Rajan, who works at nights in a factory packing boxes, and struggles with insomnia and loneliness. He lives with his sister and her family in a very small space, and it is nearly impossible for him to sleep during the day when the rest of the family is up.

In the film’s programme notes, Malhotra writes: ‘I approach Rajan not simply as a character, but as a vessel through which we explore the invisible wounds of contemporary India and the human spirit’s fragile endurance under restless pressure.’

The film stars the young Gujarati actor Prayrak Mehta (Chhalaang, Black Warrant and Kohrra), along with actress and casting director Nikita Grover (Paatal Lok, Yeh Kaali Kaali Ankhein) and Himanshu Kohli (Jal Tu Jalaal Tu, a short directed by Prateek Vats and Shubham Vardan).

Before Meher heads to Cannes, she tells Aseem Chhabra, “The Institute decides to send the film. I am grateful that they thought my film is worth sending to such a big festival. It was the only Indian student film sent to the La Cinef section.”

Mehar, congratulations on the selection of your film.
You have already graduated from FTII. How and when was this film made?

Yes, I graduated last October. It’s a three-year course. There are many exercises we go through during the time we are there. In the last year, we have to make a diploma film. This is the longest duration film that we make in the entire course. It’s a 24-minute-long film. Earlier, we would make films that are 10 or 15 minutes long.

We have about six months during which we write the script, and work on the production, from finding locations to casting. We shot the film mostly in Pune. For one day, we shot a scene outside Pune on Anjarle beach.

The casting is so good. Nikita Grover plays the sister of the protagonist Rajan. She has herself done casting for a quite a few prominent projects such as Paatal Lok and Kohraa. But she is also a terrific actress.

My casting director was Neha Dargan, who was in the acting batch at the institute, which is a two-year programme. She got me in touch with Nikita, who was an absolute delight to work with. This was the first time I was working with a male protagonist. All my previous shorts focused on female protagonists.

Nikita put me in touch with Prayrak Mehta, and it was wonderful to work with him, Himanshu (Kohli) sir, and Nikita. There was a real synergy between them.

Tell us about the theme. Had you been working with the same theme through your other short films?

The narratives in my films have been different. I have done a lot of experimentation with my time at FTII because I saw it as an opportunity to find my voice and to experiment as much as I could before I go out in the world. Luckily, FTII gave us that time, space, and the resources to explore and experiment.

I stumbled upon this idea. We had a final year masterclass with Fareeda Mehta (director, Kali Salwaar). One day, we were talking about our lives. I told her how little sleep I was getting. Time was short, so sleep was something that was eluding me. The situation was literally out of my hands.

The conversation led me to talk about an aunt, my maasi who used to live with us in Delhi. It was a small one BHK in Rohini, with my grandparents, my parents, my maasi and me, all of us living in one space.

My maasi used to work in a call centre at that time. I would see her slogging away, and she had dark circles around her eyes. It was a Punjabi household and everybody spoke loudly. All the household chores that you would do had to be loud.

But it was a loving family and there were no villains. Everybody was trying to help each other out, to ensure that she slept in the daytime before her night shift would start. But what could she do? With little sleep, she still had to work.

I could see the irritation and the mental toll it was taking her. And suddenly, you could see cracks start to appear even in a loving family. That really astounded me, how one person’s issues could impact the entire household.

Fareeda ma’am suggested that this was something I could write, so I started writing the script. Once I had a few images and scenes at hand, I realised this can be a short film.

You decided to make the film in Punjabi. Nikita and Himanshu are Punjabi so they can speak the language. But Prayrak is from Gujarat.

I first saw him in the Netflix show Black Warrant where he played a Sikh Punjabi character. He speaks Punjabi in the show. I was sold.

How was the Cannes submission decided? Did you decide it, or the institute sent your film to La Cinef?

The Institute decides to send the film. I am grateful that they thought my film is worth sending to such a big festival. It was the only Indian student film sent to the La Cinef section.

So no other film school, including the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, sent a film. I read they receive over 1,000 student films from around the world.

And they accept only 19 films.

Tell us about the three years you spent at FTII. What kind of films and filmmakers inspired you and influenced your filmmaking style? You have a very unique voice. While I was watching the film, I kept thinking this doesn’t feel like a student film.

The three years at the Institute were fantastic because I joined when I was very young. I was just thrown into the world of cinema where we were watching two or three films per day, mostly on the big screen. Then we would discuss the films with my peers.

During the process, no matter how many films you watch, it’s sort of an intuition that your voice evolves. I think that’s the beautiful thing about cinema.

The faculty was just amazing in helping me find my voice. Because again, I was very young.

Were there any filmmakers who inspired you?

Yes. There is John Cassavates (The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, A Woman Under the Influence) and the filmmakers like Lucrecia Martel (Zama, La Ciénaga) and Lynne Ramsay (Die My Love, We Need to Talk About Kevin). It’s not just the performances or the background score or the camera movement. Their films are so giving.

I wanted to make films like they did, films that give a lived-in feeling. Anyone watching can feel they are living in that space, living with the characters.

Before you joined the Institute, what kind of films were you watching? I presume you must have watched Bollywood films as well.

Oh, I was watching a lot of shit (laughs).

Those films became a reflection of my life, so I would watch films by David Cronenberg (The Shrouds, Dead Ringers, The Fly) and Lars von Triers (Antichrist, Dancer in the Dark). Those films really had an impact on a young mind like mine.

That’s when I began to realise that cinema is such a powerful medium. It is not just the emotional impact, but some of these films are so strong that your entire body cannot help but react. It amazed me! And I thought I definitely want to be a filmmaker.

Your family was okay in letting you become a filmmaker?

They were sceptical at first, but I am the only child. They love me, so they had to let me follow my passion.

Exciting times ahead. Everyone must be thrilled.

Yes, it’s been surreal. My professors are happy. This makes you realise how blessed you are. We will be a group in Cannes. My production designer, the editor, even Neha, the casting director will be there. Nikita and Prayrak will also be there.

Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff