‘The List’ has received immense love and appreciation from audiences since its release. The short film features popular actors Angad Bedi and Kirti Kulhari in the lead roles.
‘The List’ will take you through a journey of ‘He’ and ‘She’ who are living a robotic life that is a reflection of the typical metropolitan life we are living today. From daily household chores to office tasks, to traffic jams, all of these are symbolic of how all humans today are stuck in a certain structure of ‘Matrix’.
The lead actors shared with us the challenges they faced to emote on screen whilst projecting blank faces to bring out the narrative.
Here is what the actors said:
“This was a different experience, there were moments where Gaurav Dave, the director, would tell us to look a little more dead, look more void of emotions, there is still something left, eliminate that as well. So, we were going in the opposite direction.” said Kirti Kulhari.
She added, “this challenge was really something that I enjoyed because it was different from the usual ‘this emotion is needed, that emotion is needed’. In my own head, I kept pushing and trying to get it right because it matters to me. rest it was fun, there were no dialogues, just have to play with facial expressions… It was a great change.”
“Acting like robots for me isn’t easy. Imagine on camera, the filmmaker tells you that this is how you’re supposed to be for 18 mins. It’s the toughest thing to do and then you have to project certain emotions while you act all robotic. There is a very fine line that you have to maintain for such a multi-layered character.” Speaking of his experience portraying a character in this film, Angad said.
“I think because this role was so new to me, it became all the more challenging because I am a very energetic person and to have such stoic expressions is a task I thought was out of my league. Of course, working with Kirti and taking workshops for 5 days helped me a lot. I honestly didn’t think I would be able to pull this character off.”
He added, “Every actor has certain advantages and disadvantages and yes, it is good to challenge yourself but at the same time it is also very important to know what you can do and what your capacity or capability is”.
Written and directed by Gaurav Dave, The List is now streaming for free on Amazon miniTV as part of the Mini Movie Festival.