Taapsee Pannu, Amit Sadh in short film ‘Baarish Aur Chowmein’

Filmmaker Tigmashu Dhulia says that audience footfall in cinemas has decreased in the last few years.

Dhulia was interacting with media at the special screening of his upcoming film Baarish Aur Chowmein.

Baarish Aur Chowmein revolves around Siraj (Amit Sadh), who is unable to rent a house in Mumbai because he is a Muslim. So, he hides his true identity and finds a home where he falls in love with the landlord’s daughter Neelu (Taapsee Pannu).

Asked whether he would continue making short films on digital platforms, Dhulia said, “If a good script comes my way then definitely I would like to direct more short films because digital medium is the future. Audience footfall in theatres has immensely decreased at all circuits of country.”

The Mumbai circuit has witnessed a drop of 8 per cent in the last six years.

“Now people like to see movies at their homes on their laptops and mobiles. Short films takes less [time] to watch so, I feel that’s the future,” he added.

Asked whether the digital medium can take over feature films, Dhulia said: “No... it will not happen because there are certain films which takes two to three hours to tell the story. You can’t make films like Paan Singh Tomar, Godfather or Baahubali for less than 30 minutes. I think experimental films which have smaller budgets can be made in short film format.”

Baarish Aur Chowmein is part of a project where six Indian directors and six Pakistani directors make movies based on the common theme of love.

It premieres on August 31 and will be aired on ZEE5.