Aarti Chhabria, who you’ll remember from films like Awara Paagal Deewana, Tumse Achcha Kaun Hai and Shootout At Lokhandwala, has just directed her first film. The 30-minute long short film, titled Mumbai Varanasi Express, tells the story of a man who only has two months left to live. Krishnakant Jhunjhunwala, who is the founder of a 15 hundred crore empire, decides to leave everything behind and check into a “death hostel” in Varanasi. There, he learns some important lessons.
Check out the trailer:
Aarti says:
Directing itself was really exciting and rewarding. I had previously done some music videos, chekovian films, Mise-en-scène’s, and some short films in my schooling at New York Film Academy. In those projects I was working with mostly American, European, and African actors, so for my first big project on Mumbai-Varnasi Express it was wonderful to work with Indian actors, especially a veteran like Darshanji….also really enjoyed with a brand new actor like the one from Varanasi who played the rickshaw driver. It was harder than I thought to describe and get out of the actors the exact vision I had for the characters, but it came together beautifully. Quite a journey!
What did you think of the trailer?