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In total control

Adman Saurabh's short film, "Ctr+Alt+Del" reflects the new age dilemmas

`I wanted to convey a tone of optimism. In our techno-funky culture, one can always start afresh', says Saurabh, the young ad filmmaker justifying the title of his debut short film, "Ctr+Alt+Del". An enchanting short film, produced by his advertising production house, Ethics, the film has Rahul Bose as an angst-ridden young man, Kabir, the eponymous figure of the present day Indian consumerist society.

Saurabh was inspired by the tremendous appropriation of the advertisement lingo in our everyday life. The film captures the final hours in the life of Kabir as he decides to give up his life. His fatal act is delayed by an innocuous female voice from a pizza delivery centre who prods him to defer his decision. The director presents the all-pervasive call centre voice as the defining motif of a dehumanised age.

"There is a very thin line separating copywriting and life. Very often one has to live a life without espousing one's own lines," says Saurabh. Kabir's desperation in his inability to identify the telephonic voice from the call centre sets the tempo of the film. This 25-minute narrative has been selected for screening at the Palm Beach and Atlanta Film festivals. Rahul Bose etches the character with his usual finesse. Saurabh has many promising projects in the offing. He wishes to revolutionise the reception of mass entertainment.

"We have developed a proprietary software, `Mungle', which can be downloaded on mobile phones. It is user friendly and therefore makes circulation of short films easier," assures this techno-savvy filmmaker.

His next venture is a longer film, "Kamo Malishwali", based on a Hindi novel. He is also producing an animation film, "Acronym".

SANJAY KUMAR

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