Sayani Gupta-starrer short film Shameless in Oscar race
Sayani Gupta-starrer Shameless is the official Indian entry in the Live Action Short Film category at the Oscars. Writer-director Keith Gomes’s 15-minute black comedy beat Vidya Balan’s Natkhat in the Oscars entry race.
Writer-director Keith Gomes’ short film titled ‘Shameless’ that released in April 2019 is this year’s entry from India at the 93rd Oscars in the ‘Live Action Short Film’ category. It was picked from a list of five films that included Natkhat, Sound proof, Safar and Trapped. With a versatile cast comprising of Sayani Gupta, Hussain Dalal and Rishabh Kapoor, the film’s narrative dives into the theme of loss of human spirit due to technology, while it also attempts to raise relevant questions on the issues of entitlement, humanity and empathy toward the migrant class.
Vidya Balan
The 15-minute black comedy thriller, revolves around work from home professional played by Hussain Dalal, who constantly orders online and wakes up to find himself trapped by an exasperated and apologetic pizza delivery girl, essayed by Sayani Gupta. The film was one of the finalists at the recently concluded 3rd edition of the Best of India Short Film Festival 2020, and is produced by Ashley Gomes and national award winner Sandeep Kamal, while the sound is designed by Oscar winner Resul Pookutty.
Sayani Gupta talking about the short film being selected for Oscars said, “My experience on Shameless was fantastic and now we submitting to the Oscars, it’s a WOW!! Keith is wonderful as a director and very gentle with his actors and crew. Hussain, of course is a great friend, and it was a ball working with him. We have a silent communication and understanding when it comes to improvisations etc. The character in Shameless, I had never done anything similar before. Loved the world Keith created and executed. I’m wondering if we do a second part of the story now.”
