A couple of years back most of us woke up to the absolute viral sensation, A Frustrated Software Engineer. In case you did not, you have surely been living under a rock! And with that Ashima Pictures entered the world of digital content as a rather credible name. And now, Mayank Singh and Silky Agarwal, the people behind the company bring us the tale of a silent-lover doctor. Interestingly, both the engineer and the doctor have been played by the same guy – Mayank.
To cut the story 'short', the latest video from Ashima Pictures – Ishq Ki Dava - is about a doctor in love. Set somewhere in rural India, the film is an adaptation of O. Henry’s The Love-Philtre of Ikey Schoenstein. “We have always believed that a lot of O. Henry’s stories can actually work in the Indian milieu if adapted well. Ishq Ki Dava is our attempt to bring one of my favourite stories of his to screen,” says Mayank, who adapted and directed the short.
Ask how did an engineer turn into a doctor, Mayank laughs. “Well, such things are possible only in the world of stories and that is what gets us so excited. In reality, I was actually an engineer and now creating content for the world to view.” Silky, his partner in crime and co-director of the short agrees, “The charm of storytelling got us both here. Both Mayank and I belong to a world far from filmmaking and yet here we are! At Ashima Pictures our desire is to tell stories that we believe in, stories that will ring a bell with audience – old and young. That is why A Frustrated Software Engineer worked so well. And that is also why our short films like A Premarital Question worked.”
Needless to say, Ashima Pictures has ambitions to match their storytelling skills. After dabbling with theatre and digital media, they are also looking at the big screen. “Of course, feature films are something we want to make. But before that, there is a whole lot of content that we are aiming to bring out on OTT platforms. We start with a series of short films we are calling Purane Panne. Stay tuned,” Silky signs off.
Watch the movie here: