20 films made on city to compete at MAMI

A maroon sweater, a make-shift superhero, an auto rickshaw ‘bhaiyya’ — for the city’s budding film-makers, symbolism has replaced brawny heroes as protagonists. Reetika Subramanian reports.

A maroon sweater, a make-shift superhero, an auto rickshaw ‘bhaiyya’ — for the city’s budding film-makers, symbolism has replaced brawny heroes as protagonists.

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Twenty filmmakers will compete in Dimensions Mumbai, a short film competition in the film festival organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Images (MAMI) from October 13 to 20.

“Anchored on metaphors and fuelled by creative liberties, I am using a maroon sweater as the hero of my film,” said Faraz Ali, 25, an independent film-maker and writer, who will be screening his debut directorial venture, Mehrooni, at the 13th annual film festival.

Twenty-four-year-old Rahul Bharti’s short film, O Brother? What art thou... is special for several reasons. “In Mumbai, some people take offence when they are referred to as ‘bhaiyya’,” said Bharti. His inspiration was a poster in an auto that read, ‘Don’t call me bhaiyya’.

Mihir Desai, 23, who has produced “mockumentary”, Aakra-Man, about a common man with a glorified sense of theatrics, said, MAMI is a wonderful paltform to showcase talent.

Film-makers Kiran Rao, Vikram Aditya Motwane, Onir and Nishikant Kamat and actor Renuka Shahane are part of the jury.