Shriram Iyengar
Mumbai, 02 Feb 2022 0:30 IST
Kabeer Khurana and Zainab Saptawala's simple short is elegant but fades away as quickly as a summer crush.
One reason why William Shakespeare's name resounds through the ages is the simplicity of emotions in his plays. All of the complex philosophy can be traced down to simple human emotions like love, hate, envy, anger and pride. Dramatists through history have sought to replicate the same perfect blend of emotion and storytelling, and struggled. Kabeer Khurana and Zainab Saptawala's Dramayama gets the feeling right but falter occasionally in the storytelling.
The short film revolves around the enactment of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet in a college. Diya (Renee Sen) is the Juliet of the drama, trying to find a balance between her life as a social-media influencer and an aspiring actress. Trying to build up her followers, she decides to pair up with the hottest boy in college, Tanay (Zubin Shah). The way to him passes through Romi (Darsheel Safary), who wants to be an understudy for Romeo. Cue a strategy, accidental romance, and a question at the end.
The short captures the zeitgeist of life as a teenager in the digital world. The pressures of followers on Instagram, the sense of je ne sais quoi that comes with college freedom, and a teensy bit of drama that follows it.
The cast members do as much as they can in the short time it takes for the story to unfold. Renee Sen and Darsheel Safary make the most of it. Despite the sense of a summer romance, the short does not leave an emotional impact or the sense of something more than just a fleeting experiment.
In spite of its potential, the film feels a little underdone and slightly raw in its treatment. It ends up feeling like a teenager trying to say something big, only to end in a whimper.
Dramayama is now available on the Humara Movie channel on YouTube and on Disney+ Hotstar.