BENGALURU: Looks are deceptive, they say, but a look is also a giveaway for the first impression that people make about someone they are meeting for the first time. Is our identity solely dependent on how one dresses up? Short film Haircut by Poojitha Prasad, released on her YouTube channel, revolves around how physical appearance matters and how people perceive you based on your looks.
The story is about a young man, who is asked to cut his long hair before his wedding, to appear more presentable to his parents-in-law, which leads to an identity crisis. Though a deep topic for a short film, Prasad says the movie was made for a funny reason. “The lead actor of the movie Vadiraj Bhoja and I have known each other for quite some time. He has been growing his hair for the past four years and was planning to cut his hair short. To shoot his haircut, we decided to make a movie and write a story around it,” says Prasad.
While the theme has been a topic of discussion for many, there has never been a right or wrong answer to it. Prasad says the idea she had while writing the screenplay was to relate to both characters. “When the hero asks ‘is my hair my identity’ and the time when Anusha Rao, the lead actress, asks ‘can’t you do this much for me’, both the times people relate to the situation,” explains Prasad. “The point was not to show who is right or wrong but to start a conversation,” she adds.
Although the movie is only for 10 minutes, it took almost two years to finish. “We had shot the movie in June 2019, and soon after that Anusha got busy with her other commitments and I didn’t want to dub the movie with someone else. And last year the lockdown was imposed,” says Prasad, who has assisted directors like B Suresh.