Underrated Hindi short films on YouTube that should be on your watchlist

Despite of being great in every aspect of filmmaking, these Hindi short films are still unknown to many and definitely deserve more recognition.

People generally underestimate short films for their short lengths, but the fact is that telling a story within a short amount of time is way more difficult than making a feature movie. Many renowned filmmakers such as Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese or Denis Villeneuve have made short films which can give tough competition to many successful feature films.

Here, we will talk about some of the underrated Hindi short films which are freely available on YouTube, yet still underrated.

  1. Meal: Directed by Abhiroop Basu, this 11 minute short is a powerful commentary on the current socio political scenarios in India and depicts several important social issues in a very subtle way. The film has no dialogue but the brilliant cinematography, superb sound designing and outstanding performances from all the cast members make it a must watch.
  2. Taandav: 'Bhonsle' director Devasish Makhija has made some brilliant short films and 'Taandav' is arguably the best among them. It tells the story of a police constable who is having a bad time and how, he finally fights it. The film has some mythological references and Manoj Bajpai as the protagonist will completely blow your mind.
  3. Death of a father: Chaitanya Tamhane is known as the director of award winning Marathi features 'Court and 'The Disciples', but many aren't aware that he has also made this beautiful short film. This 10 minute animated short depicts the sorrow of a son after the death of his father and how he ultimately moves on. The movie is a poetic representation of life tragedy and shows human emotions in a very beautiful way.
  4. Bombay Mirror: Starring Rajkumar Rao, this 3 minute short gives some powerful and thought provoking messages that will force you to think for hours. The film shows how quickly we take decisions just by seeing what's happening in front of our eyes and don't ask any further questions.
  5. Agli Baar: Devasish Makhija's 'Agli Baar' shows the dark side of our society and holds a mirror onto our face. The film is extremely well shot and all the actors, especially Rasika Dugal and Abhishek Banerjee absolutely nailed their roles. The film is disturbing and not for faint hearted people.
  6. L: Directed by Amit V Masurkar and starring Tanistha Chatterjee, Pankaj Tripathi in lead roles, 'L' is a beautiful, heart warming yet powerful film that shows the true side of feminism. The film is extremely well crafted and the climax scene tells thousands of words with just a few symbols.
Also 'Zero', 'Tenth Race', 'OP', 'Uss Din', 'El'ayichi', 'Rubaru' are some of the short films on YouTube, which you can definitely give a watch.