BENGALURU: Looking for a quick watch that’s gripping? Then filmmaker Roshan D’Souza’s short film Amrtyu, could be a good pick. A psychological thriller, it revolves around the life of an amnesia patient Rishi who has forgotten his past completely. The short film also stars Keerthi Bhanu , Sangeetha Rajeev, Pradyumna Narahalli in lead roles.
Explaining the film’s premise, D’Souza says, “The short movie is about a person who has lost his memory, but he’s seeing some portion of his memory in his dreams and is trying to make sense of what he’s seeing.”
One of the key points in a psychological thriller is its build-up. Within its 11-minute runtime, Amrtyu tries to establish a complex subject. D’Souza confesses it was very difficult. “It was hard to build that because 11 minutes in a film is a short amount of time. I was particular that I have to finish this entire segment within 15 minutes. So I had to identify the right characters who would convey the story. For example, Aditya is a doctor who is treating Rishi and can give you some idea about the condition,” he explains.
He also reveals that the short film is a tease to the feature film which he is planning to make. “This portion of the short movie that you saw is actually part of a bigger story that I’m building right now. I’m writing a script for it,” says the marketing professional.
A fan of psychological thrillers, the idea was born in November 2022 which is when the characters, Maya or Rishi, were created. “The only recommendations that you would see in my OTT platforms are thrillers or horror movies.
I watch very few action movies, but for me, thrillers and horror movies are something I connect with very immediately. I like movies like Inception, Momento, etc. I go very deep into the characters,” says D’Souza, adding that the last one that he watched was a Korean series called The King: Eternal Monarch.
Inception of Maya
“I really connected with the character Maya because of her strong image. The look also was so different. Most people told me they couldn’t recognise me. But Roshan was convinced that I should give it a try. When we did a dress trial, he told me, ‘I got my character Maya’”
-Sangeetha Rajeev, singer/actor