DOTS IS WORLD’S FIRST EVER FILM MADE DURING THE LOCKDOWN BY SINGAPORE BASED FILMMAKER SHILPA KRISHNAN SHUKLA IN SINGAPORE & INDIA
Jyothi Venkatesh
The multi-lingual feature film called DOTS has been produced and directed by Shilpa Krishnan Shukla across Singapore and India, believe it or not during the current lockdown.The lockdown imposed in most nations across the world has many of us thinking about the connections we make in our life. As we spend time alone, apart from the ones we love, and away from other human contact, no wonder we end up seeking out connections via social media.
Dots looks at how five couples connect with one another during these stressful and tenuous times. The 93-minute film starring an ensemble star cast comprising of actors like Ahaana Krishna, Aishwarya Kumar, Aparna Pradeep, Lalit Prabhakar, Parna Pethe, Raaghav Ranganathan, Sai Pogaru, Saran Jith, Shishir Sharma and Suman Nagarkar in interesting and lively emotional characters who talk about “love and loss, hopes and dreams, identities and choices” as they make a first time attempt in an dating app to get to know each other, to alleviate their boredom especially during the current recession which has dawned on humanity thanks to the pandemic .
The multi-lingual ensemble feature in English, Hindi, and Malayalam, withn a song in Malayalam as bonus has been filmed across Singapore and India during the lockdown. Interestingly, the star cast is made up of artistes from six different film industries not only in India but also in Singapore that Shukla knew during the course of her career. The film was premiered online on 13 June.
Shilpa Krishnan Shukla
Watch out for yet another Ashwini Iyer Tiwari in Singapore-based filmmaker, Shilpa Krishnan Shukla, the writer, director and also co-producer of Kathaah@8 – the world’s first film in 8 Indian languages (Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu). Like Ashwani Iyer Tiwari, Shilpa is also a South Indian married to a Bihari. The film had bagged the Best Film award at the recently concluded 12th Third Eye Asian Film Festival held at Ravindra Natya Mandir in Prabhadevi in Mumbai. The film Kathaah@8 was an Official Selection at the Third Eye Asian Film Festival, held in Mumbai from 1-6 March 2020. The film, incidentally happens to be the world’s first and only anthology in 8 languages, written, produced and directed by a single film maker.
A self-produced independent film, Kathaah@8 was shot in Singapore over nine nights and marks the feature film debut of 18 Singapore-based actors of Indian origin – many of whom are working professionals in other fields of work. To date, the film has been an Official Selection at nine festivals in Singapore, Bangladesh, India and the United Kingdom, and has won three awards- The coveted Jury Award at the Singapore South Asian International Film Festival (Sg.Saiff) 2019.- The Best International Feature Film award at the Rajasthan International Film Festival 2020, the Best Story award at the Golden Triangle International Film Festival 2020 and also the Best Film award at the 12th Third Eye Asian Film Festival in Mumbai.
Shilpa Krishnan Shukla’s Hindi-English bilingual feature Tashi (2018) which went to 18 film festivals around the world had won 16 awards and was nominated for the NETPAC Award at the Bengaluru International Film Festival. The Malayalam-English bilingual feature Pularum Iniyum Naalekal / There’s Always Tomorrow (2016) that went to 37 film festivals around the world and picked-up 18 awards across 8 different categories Award-winning zero-budget, English feature Mausams (2011) which went to film festivals in India, Bangladesh and USA Short films Aravindum Aarumughamum (2014) and Inganeyum Oru Katha (2012) Online sitcom Athazham (2015) Shilpa Krishnan Shukla is an award-winning filmmaker who focuses on independent, micro budget films that she writes, directs and produces, while pursuing her full time career as a marketing director with a global healthcare company.
Shilpa’s passion in filmmaking took-off when her first two films, both a minute long, were shortlisted in the Top 25 films of an online film festival in 2008. She has since been pursuing film-making as a passionate hobby. Kathaah@8 is her fourth feature film. Shilpa is also an avid reader, a trained Indian classical dancer, a talented sketching artist and a yoga enthusiast. She is originally from Thrissur in Kerala and moved to Singapore in 1999 when she received the prestigious Singapore Airlines academic scholarship. Shilpa currently lives in Singapore with her husband and daughter.
Isn’t it time that we said a wow for the enterprising multitalented filmmaker, who is eyeing at making a film in Bollywood too sooner or later!
