Khayali Pulao review: Freedom isn’t the same for everyone

Khayali Pulao (YouTube)

Rating: 4/5

Written & Directed: Tarun Dudeja

Cast: Prajakta Koli, Yashpal Sharma

What can a 26 minute-long short film do to you? It can most definitely entertain you, it can make you laugh and maybe also give you something to think about. But has a short film ever changed your way of looking at things? ‘Khayali Pulao’ did that for me.

It’s a short film about freedom, or more specifically, the individual definitions of freedom. The short film beautifully portrays how the ideas of freedom and liberation are different for different people. It’s also beautiful to see how well its director and writer Tarun Dudeja delivers the message with precision.

The film does not exaggerate the struggles of the protagonist Asha, portrayed effortlessly by Prajakta Koli. The director houses the story in a village in Haryana, with the viewer being invited to be one among the many faces from Asha’s classroom. While the film is moving, it does not allow itself to be sentimental.

It teases you with a series of possible turns the plot could take before wrapping things up with one that is simpler and stronger.

Acting, cinematography, characters are all layered and three dimensional in every sense, you feel like you are watching a Bollywood gem. Yashpal Sharma as “Kharab sir” gives a strong performance.