An Illusion

Short Synopsis: Just like a tiny spark can turn into a big fire, small ego problems over little things in our daily lives can quickly turn into strong anger. In this story, “An Illusion,” a man killed his girlfriend because she didn’t answer his calls or messages. He continues to struggle with his ego in his subconscious mind throughout his 20 years in prison. Overall, the dark color palette reflects the dark side of thoughts, and there is red color depicting ego and anger.

Long Synopsis: The phone has become an essential part of our lives, but it also has some negative consequences. When someone fails to answer our call, we often experience humiliation and develop a negative perception without understanding the other person’s situation. This film captures that sentiment. In this film, an egoistic man (in red) killed his girlfriend because she couldn’t respond! While his girlfriend was not responding, a conflict erupted within him and his ego had taken the form of a huge mountain.

Upon his release from prison, he gazes at the mountain; it disappears. He realizes that the mountain he had been trying to break for 20 years was an illusion! There were only a few small stones. His ego has been destroyed (returning from red to its natural color), but it is too late to understand, because he has lost his girlfriend and wasted 20 years of his life.

Art Style: Just as a spark can turn into a firestorm, in our daily life we take ego on small things. Sometimes they become huge things. The silhouette and unrevealed face represent that it could be us. We also make simple matters into huge issues like mountains, and those negative thoughts come again and again, which forces us to make wrong decisions. Overall, the dark color palette reflects the dark side of thoughts, and there is red color depicting ego and anger.

An illustrator, animator and filmmaker from Mumbai, India.
Many of my works have been officially selected at international film festivals and have received multiple awards.

Directed by Nitish Kumar