‘Bhaktapur’ is a long, meaningful look into the life of the eponymous region, and the many who constitute it. About ninety miles from Bhaktapur, the families of the daily laborers live, providing yet another insight into existence in post-earthquake Nepal. The 2015 national calamity razed a crucial part of the country to the ground, leaving brick production as an important pillar of its struggling economy. 

The narrative brings in the voices of the locals, the aging and the young, to present its interactions. An overarching sense of bleakness never truly leaves the portrayal of a difficult life of manual labor. The end result is tied with earnestness and the desire to draw attention to the community. 

The visual grammar of the film is especially skilled, as is the smooth flow of the scenes unfolding before the viewer. Despite an omniscient sense of sentimentalism, the story of the documentary stands firmly on its feet, while also educating the viewer about previously unwitnessed realities.

Bhaktapur | Short Film of the Day

The struggle to find the perfect partner, who makes you happy and one you can also take home to your family, is gruelling and exhausting and generously sprinkled with dead ends, to say the least. The obstacles get even more formidable if you happen to be a coloured person in a predominantly white country, or even worse, if you're queer. The short film explores both of these situations by portraying the experiences of two Indians, a woman who is over thirty years old, and her close friend who happens to be gay. Now, both situations are completely unacceptable in their respective families. An unmarried daughter who is above thirty and a man who refuses to 'turn straight' have become their sole identifiers for their families, suggests the narrative. However, as they move from one desperate attempt to another to find love, several unexpected turns, both for them and the viewer, are ensconced within the plot of the film. From dating apps to meet-ups for Indians looking to get married, they have tried them all, but to little avail. One day when Tara finds what seems to be her Mr. Perfect, who makes her fantasize about dancing around trees with him a la Bollywood music sequences, would it truly lead to her happy ending, if at all there is any such thing to be achieved in the world of relationships?

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