Can shooting on a phone limit a filmmaker? Vishal Bharadwaj’s Fursat, shot completely on iPhone 14 Pro, says otherwise. Starring Ishaan Khatter, Wamiqa Gabbi and Salman Yussuf Khan, the half-an-hour musical drama is a coming of age story, utilizing elements of science fiction.
Ishaan Khatter’s character Nishant, a man who has an artifact DoorDarshak that allows him to see in the future, using moonlight as fuel, is the core of the story. We discover, that in the past, Nishant was set to marry Diya, played by Waqima, his childhood sweetheart, when his meddling with the DoorDarshak and its activation via moonlight led him to a possible future, causing him to arrive late at his own engagement, and hence leading to Diya breaking up with him.In the present, Diya is on a train heading to her doom at the hands of a bandit, Salman Yussuf Khan, while Nishant races against time, armed with his DoorDarshak to save her.
The short-film’s most important element is the music, penned by Gulzar and composed by Bharadwaj himself. The tracks Waqt Waqt and Kal Kahin are the highlights and depict how time governs all, in both physical and metaphysical sense. The film stresses how important it is for us to spend time with the ones we cherish.
Nishant starts his journey as a man obsessed with seeing the future by unraveling the DoorDarshak, yet he loses sight of what is already in-front of him. In the end as he reunites with Diya his arc finally comes to an end as he tosses the DoorDarshak in fire, thus reaffirming his presence in the present.
The iPhone’s technical prowess is at full display as it showcases that anyone can shoot cinematic videos through it. The action mode also stabilizes extremely shaky visuals, as one can see in the Making of Fursat.
Vishal Bharadwaj is a filmmaker for the soul, his list of extensive works, Omkara, Haider, Maqbool, Kaminey, 7 Khoon Maaf, have already showcased the genius of the veteran, with Fursat being the experimental masterclass for the audience from the auteur.
