Anjali Patil-starrer ‘Nails’ to compete at Red Sea International Film Festival

Anjali Patil-starrer ‘Nails’, directed by Triparna Banerjee, to compete at Red Sea International Film Festival

Hyderabad-based filmmaker Triparna Banerjee’s Hindi short film, Nails, is the only Indian film to be selected in the Red Sea: Shorts Competition section of the fourth edition of the Red Sea International Film Festival (RedSeaIFF), to be held from December 5 to 14 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Nails is a psychological horror film of 15 minutes and 44 seconds duration, starring Anjali Patil, Aishwarya Sonar and Riza Reji (a model, dancer and actor with Down syndrome). Triparna, who grew up in Jharkhand and moved to Hyderabad a decade ago, is a guest faculty at the Annapurna College of Film and Media, Hyderabad. 

In the film, Anjali Patel plays Dolly, a reclusive nurse who is haunted by scars from the past. She lives with her sister Mony (Riza Reji), who has Down’s syndrome. There is more to the seemingly ordinary lives of the sisters, who have survived abuse. The narrative explores one sister’s tendency to be extremely vigilant while the other becomes the keeper of the family secrets.

The inspiration for the character with Down syndrome, reveals Triparna, came from close quarters. “As a child, I did not know much about my aunt’s condition — Down syndrome. I was intrigued by how she had conversations with imaginary people. Sometimes, she would have a different narrative for incidents that have happened. Those memories stayed with me.” Triparna wondered if her aunt had been privy to numerous incidents that she could not articulate and what if she did not find eager listeners.

When Triparna was a student in New Delhi in her teens, she recalls becoming increasingly vigilant as incidents of crime against women made headlines. “I would have 100 on my speed dial. This was a time before smartphones. I would also carry a knife in my bag and hope I would never have to use it. I would also wonder if I would be able to use it when the need arises.” In Nails, the character played by Anjali Patil is hyper-vigilant and the film tries to portray the trauma that arises from past incidents and the stress it lays on the present.

Triparna wrote Nails as a short story and adapted it into a short film. A feature film is also in the works. The film was shot in the outskirts of Pune, though the town is given a fictional name in the story. RedSeaIFF is the first film festival to feature Nails, following which there are plans for a North American and an Indian premiere in 2025. 

Triparna worked as an associate producer for the feature film Frozen (2009) and was one of the screenwriters for the documentary From the Shadows along with its director Miriam Chandy Menacherry.