By Rohan Murti

Director: Vijayeta Kumar

‘One day Mataram’ in a sincere attempt to question reality; it wages a war against a nationally adopted habituation. Like most other compact short films, it is multi-faceted, yet immaculately unambiguous in the kind of message it wants to put forth.

Alok Kumar (a perpetually underrated Vineet Kumar Singh) is the easily relatable young, office-going Indian who’s just another curious fish in an ocean of the internet-smitten generation; ‘internet’ here being synonymous to ‘the social media’. The film craftily reiterates how our ideologies might differ from the ones we proudly showcase on the social platform.

There are some very intricate character-defining scenes; (uniquely) both relatable and laughable, given the realistic feel to them. A seemingly patriotic Alok sings his anthem with utmost pride, positioning himself in the middle of a bustling street. Onlookers grow curious — some owing to guilt and awe, while the others just because of him being an unusual obstruction. Even as a pedestrian almost runs into him and vents out his anger by hurling abuses, Alok seems unbridled and continues crooning with due respect. Up goes his status update: “People who don’t stand up for the national anthem are deshdrohi. 2 rupees people.” Some scenes perfectly articulate how spurious our image on social media can be. Our protagonist boasts of fostering the need of a ‘Swachch Bharat’ in one of his updates, which doesn’t seem to strike him while littering a street later in the day. The film is a bit obvious in these contradictions, but hammers home the point repeatedly by abandoning nuance in a traditionally nuance-free country.

As a result, ‘One-Day Mataram’ works wonders in convincing us not to reduce patriotism just to some trivial feeling that resurfaces twice a year. As an ideological by-product, the film also emphasises the existence of an alter-ego that prioritises people’s perception over individual conviction in any ideology. If guilt followed by realisation are among the array of emotions you’ve felt after watching this film, you’ve invested your time well.

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