Award Winning Director Sam Khan on the Emergence of Short Format Films in India

“For a good film, you don’t need big money or big stars. You just need a good script and a team of beautiful crew members backing it. That’s it”. Says award winning film director Sam Khan who awaits to collaborate with the Taiwanese Government for his next ambitious project.

Budding director Sam Khan is a man on a mission.

A firm believer in tiding in the new wave, he wants to promote the segment of short format films between 1 to 50 minutes.  This is a zone he believes is a beautiful space to be in, because here you don’t need very big people, budgets or stars. “For a good film, you just need a good script and brilliant crew members. You don’t need money or a big ambience. I am trying to create a different path for shorter format films. Because no platform right now, neither Amazon nor Netflix are buying shorter format films, and this segment definitely needs encouragement, because today people from smaller towns like Lucknow, Kanpur are asking, is there a future of making such films?”

“If I or any budding director is trying to make a shorter film, today there is no future in terms of commercial success for it. We need to make this segment bigger so we can encourage people to experiment. Why should we be restricted by a myopic vision of how to make cinema in today’s day and age, where with the emergence of the digital platforms you don’t need to go anywhere. Entertainment is right in your hands.” Khan points out.

Not new to the world of short format films himself, his film “Seven” won the Inspiring film of the year award at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival in 2019. And this London educated filmmaker is now taking his next steps Internationally in this direction with a certain vision.

Collaborating with the Tokyo Government for his next short format film, “Knuckle Duster” This Indo- Japanese Collaboration is going to be shot entirely in Tokyo post the Covid-19 situation lifts. Starring Yash Raaj Singh ( the main negative lead of the Hrithik Roshan starrer War), the film is touted to be India’s most expensive action film shot in the short format.

“Hollywood has taken the format of short films very seriously. They are keeping in mind Film Festivals across the Globe including Berlin, Cannes & Tokyo but India is not producing the kind of films, which we can represent in the International Film Festivals in this format. We need to create something of our own, it’s high time”.

If he had to make an appeal to Bollywood regarding this what would it be? “If we talk about generational change, cinema is changing. If you see the last few films of the bigger stars, they haven’t really worked. Only content is working. Today the audience wants to watch something which is smart. That’s why Netflix has such a huge subscription in India, because the choices are evolving and there is such hunger for good content.”

“I have an appeal to the audiences to also open up to this format, we need people to appreciate work also in this format so it can get the platform it rightfully deserves.  There are people telling beautiful stories even in a one-minute time span when given the opportunity”.

Resting his case, he ends with, “When you talk about shorter films, there is no segment of commercial cinema or non-commercial cinema, because shorter films are not about commercials, they are about conviction. And conviction is the key what we need to go firmly after, and I know they will find the right audience for it once they open up to this whole new world of storytelling”. He convincingly signs out.

A visionary idea. 

Platforms are you ready to nest this new wave of Cinema yet?

Originally hailing from Lucknow, Sam Khan pursued his filmmaking from London and returned to India and assisted directors like Anurag Basu and Vikram Bhatt. Today he has his own production company, Mother’s Eye Production Pvt. Ltd which has released over 25 short format films in a short span of over two years. He is currently in the pre-production stages of making one of India’s most expensive action film in the short format film in collaboration with the Tokyo Government and hails to take this format far with his endeavors.