Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala Back Mumbai Cab Thriller 'Aakhri Ride'

By Daniel Okafor

Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala will present "Aakhri Ride," a short thriller set over a single Halloween night in Mumbai, with a worldwide release on Oct. 31. The film streams on Oh Short Flips, Kashyap's curated YouTube channel. Free, in other words. Festivals rarely hand out trophies and then a YouTube link.

Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarthy wrote and directed the short — their first film. It follows a Mumbai ride-share driver pushed to breaking point during one frightening night. Chandan Roy ("Panchayat") and Aamir Dalvi ("Kennedy") head the cast, with Faisal Malik ("Panchayat") also appearing. Ranjan Singh, Vishesh Agrawal, Rajan EPK and Kashyap produced, with Navaras Pictures backing the project alongside Plexus Motion Pictures and Flip Films.

Why did two of India's best-known indie names attach themselves?

Kashyap said he had worked with the directing pair since the "Gangs of Wasseypur" days and "always believed they are excellent storytellers with a unique visual language. So when they finally decided to turn writer-directors, it was an easy decision to back them. And now, I am quite excited to see the audience's response to their first film – 'Aakhri Ride,' when it releases on Halloween Day."

Bala, for his part, described Rajan as the "Wiz Kid" that filmmaker Srinivas had introduced him and his colleagues to. "We were always in awe of what he could do with his VFX skills but there was always a sensitive and fun storyteller in him. When he and Yashoda went to make the film, we all rooted for them. I was beyond excited to watch their short film. It's sharp, fun, quirky and with a beating heart. So coming on board was a nano second decision, a no brainer," Bala said.

A nano second. Presumably faster than the average Mumbai cab ride.

Where did the story come from?

The directors traced the idea to long taxi rides home after meetings around the city. "We'd be sitting in the back seat, talking about work or sitting in silence, while the driver was often carrying a completely different world on his phone: family back home, money worries, things we may never fully know. We began to notice an invisible social divide: we were enjoying the comfort of being driven home, while he was trying to make ends meet. We shared a small space, but knew so little about each other's lives," they said.

The pair set out to examine that gap through a mix of horror and comedy, built around a man so weighed down by daily problems that he fails to see what he has picked up. Their stated ambition is modest and precise: "We hope viewers laugh, get spooked, and maybe think a little about the person driving them home," they said.

What has the festival run delivered?

Plenty. The film began its circuit in the Short Film Market Picks at Clermont-Ferrand, then landed selections at three genre events: BIFAN in Bucheon, Fantasia International Film Festival and Fantastic Fest. Its run, which includes Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying festivals, also took in the Florida Film Festival, Austin After Dark, Wench, Fantaspoa, events in Rhode Island and San Jose, Italy's Absurd Film Festival, France's Red Movie Awards, Cannes Indie Shorts and the New York Indie Shorts Awards.

The hardware followed. At Fantasia, the short won the Silver Audience Award for best Asian short. It picked up best film at the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival and best Indian short at the Indo Dubai International Film Festival, and finished second runner-up at BISFF.

A decorated genre short with two marquee presenters, released free on Halloween — that's a distribution experiment worth watching, and one that could shape how Indian shorts find audiences beyond the festival bubble.