About this submission

Vivek, a 30-something pickpocket in Pune, uses seduction as a distraction, pressing against men on crowded buses to steal and satisfy his desires. Detached, he exploits others’ hunger while suppressing his own. Meeting Kartik, a soft-spoken student seeking genuine intimacy, disrupts Vivek’s control. What begins as a hunt unravels into vulnerability, as Kartik’s tenderness challenges Vivek’s transactional world. The film blends the raw eroticism of Vivek’s encounters with the quiet, messy intimacy Kartik offers. As Vivek grapples with feelings he has long suppressed, the line between hunter and hunted blurs, leaving him to confront the cost of his transactional life.

SDM

Saurav Dattatraya Mahind

Creator

Saurav Mahind is an independent writer, director and producer from India, trained in Direction and Writing at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. He is often drawn to the quiet and unspoken experiences that shape us in a way we don’t fully understand until much later. “Before We Heal”, his first fictional Queer short at FTII, was born from a deeply personal curiosity, the way our bodies, especially in our adolescent years, respond to touch in ways that feel both strange and exhilarating. Based on the film’s vision and craft, Saurav was selected in the Creative Minds Of Tomorrow Programme held by the Govt. Of India under the aegis of the I&B Ministry at the International Film Festival of India, Goa. The documentary “Under The Jackfruit Tree” is yet another personal journey where experiences explore fruits as vessels of desire, love, freedom, and even pain. Praised for breaking the form, the film had its world premiere at SiGNS, Kerala, India. more...