Indian short film 'Sonsi' produced by 'Aarya' actor Vikas Kumar qualifies for Oscars 2022

After Tamil film Koozhangal made the country proud by becoming India's official entry to the Oscars 2022, another Indian film Sonsi has made it to the Academy Award list. The film by Savita Singh titled Sonsi (Shadow Bird), is bankrolled by Aarya fame actor Vikas Kumar. The short film became an Oscar Qualifier after winning Best Film at the Bengaluru International Short Film Festival, 2021. At the recently held 67th National Awards, Sonsi won the 'Best Cinematography' (Non-Feature category) award. 

Vikas shared his happiness with ANI and said that he feels grateful about being selected for Oscar's consideration. He said, "Not everyone can apply for Oscars. You can only submit your short film if it has won at an Oscar Qualifying festival. Just last week we received confirmation from The Academy that our film has been successfully entered for Oscar’s consideration. We're obviously thrilled!. At Khan and Kumar, we believe in telling stories where we see 'the extraordinary in the ordinary. Sonsi is our debut film. The response it has got is a huge encouragement.”

Sonsi short film officially selected for Oscars 2022 race 

Adding to it, he said, “We are currently working on two projects - a documentary on an annual sporting event held in a village on the border of UP and Bihar, and a short film that is based quite literally, out of this world. The 26-minute experimental film revolves around an eight-year-old girl, Nadi (Aarohi Radhakrishnan), her dream-etched shadow-bird, and the mysterious village time-keeper (Jameel Khan)."

 Sonsi (Shadow Bird) has been produced by actor Vikas Kumar and his childhood friend, tech-entrepreneur Sharib Khan under their banner, 'Khan and Kumar Media Pvt Ltd'. National Award-winning cinematographer, Savita Singh, made her debut as a director with this short film.

The title of the film comes from famed Hindi litterateur Vinod Kumar Shukla’s Deewar Mein Ek Khidki Rehti Thi (A Window Lived in A Wall), which won the Sahitya Akademi Award for the best Hindi work in 1999. Singh shot the film around Pune – stretches of forest land, where she used to shoot back in the day while studying at FTII and knew the landscape well.

IMAGE: ANI