The second part of Milind Mehta’s short film series, Game Of Hate: Level 2, is now being streamed on YouTube. While the first part of the self-written and self-shot video discussed how unemployment has contributed to the rise of individuals who make money by simply spreading hateful propaganda on the internet, the second delves into the psychological conditioning of such characters.
Evocatively enacted by Mehta himself, the second part features the character who has been exposed by a journalist for creating fake content for trolling on social media. After getting arrested, he is diagnosed with a psychological disorder. Feeling cornered and threatened, the character almost loses his sanity and tries to develop a defence mechanism by appearing intimidating.
According to Mehta, the second part is the bridge between the first and the upcoming third part of the short film series. “It was important to explore the emotions of the character that were suppressed in the first part,” said the actor-turned-content creator. “In the first part, the character partially shared his secrets. As he logs in to multiple profiles while switching his thought process every time he comments or posts content to create chaos on social media, we must understand this effected his psyche to the point that he lost his true self.”
After being sent to the psychiatric hospital, the character realizes that he is helpless and it is too late to come out of the situation. “The threat in Level 2 appears to be directed towards a particular journalist, but he is just upset with the way things are working for him," Mehta explained. "The threat comes from a vulnerable and painful space which will be explored further in the third part."
In the film, the character also accuses the authorities of coming after an insignificant person like him instead of exposing the big media houses that keep fabricating lies for their television rating points (TRPs).
“Media is supposed to be the voice of the people and raise issues that affect society,” said Mehta. “Issues like inflation, poor condition of roads, educating and uplifting rural areas should be highlighted. They are supposed to speak about mental health issues as well.
"But all that we are served is glamorous gossip and the same old left versus right. Achieving TRPs comes at the cost of manipulating the opinions of the general public. However, when the same is done by an individual [like in the film] it becomes threatening for the people in power.”
Mehta realizes that he is empathizing a lot with his character, but he wants to make it clear that all of us are products of conditioning. “I gained weight and spent more than a month without trimming my beard and hair to achieve the look that you see in the film," he said.
"That’s just the physical aspect of it," he continued, explaining his process of creating the video. "Every night before going to bed I used to speak to myself in the voice of the character. I would sit with a dim light and stare in the mirror and make eye contact with my reflection while exploring my personal vulnerabilities and attaching them to the character.
“[Then] I received news that affected me a lot and I knew I had to shoot the film that day itself. Honestly, it is painful, but that’s why we perform, to release our emotions and experience catharsis.”
As for the third part, Mehta had the story figured out before he shot the first part. The end of the series is already written and he is writing Level 3 by reverse engineering the events from the narrative’s climax.
Mehta said this process makes it easier for the start and the end to meet in the middle. “I will need to step out of a single room and upscale the production values to achieve the content that I’ve desired to make," he said. "Hopefully, things fall in place so that I can bring more people on board and create meaningful art.”