Shameless starring Sayani Gupta selected as India's entry for Oscars 2021 in short film category

Shameless, a short film written and directed by Keith Gomes, will compete in the Live-Action Short Film category at the 93rd Academy Awards. Sayani Gupta (Article 15, Four More Shots Please!) and Hussain Dalal (Margarita with a Straw, Judgmentall Hai Kya) star in this 15-minute long short that beat Vidya Balan’s Natkhat to the race. News18 writes that Shameless “revolves around the theme of loss of human spirit due to technology, while it also attempts to raise relevant questions on issues of entitlement, humanity and empathy toward the migrant class.” Dalal plays a man who works from home and always orders in, while Gupta is a pizza delivery girl. One day Dalal’s character wakes up to find himself trapped by an exasperated Gupta. “I observe human behaviour and love telling stories about the human spirit. This world needs kindness and my films are a reminder to not get lost into technology. I make films with little funding from family and friends, everyone comes together with loads of love and passion,” said Gomes in a statement. “My experience on Shameless was fantastic and now we submitting to the Oscars, it’s a wow! Keith is wonderful as a director and very gentle with his actors and crew. Hussain, of course is a great friend, and it was a ball working with him. We have a silent communication and understanding when it comes to improvisations,” said Gupta. Dalal, who had won a Best Actor Filmfare Award for the short in 2019, said that Gomes wanted to tell a unique story that exposes hidden truths in society. He added that they stayed honest to the process and are now eligible to compete in the Oscars. Recently, Nivin Pauly’s Jallikattu was was unanimously chosen from 27 entries across Hindi, Odiya, Marathi, and other languages for the International Feature Film category.