This week, the first film of Niharika Sahni, Aatmaram Live, was released as a feature film at select theatres. This film is about social media addiction, which is not widely addressed in today's society. As a director, Sahni is trying to make the issue known through a different perspective by using dark humour and horror as a genre of cinematic storytelling. The film explores how young people will do anything to become “viral” sensations on social media platforms, and how these behaviours are causing people to become obsessed.

STORYLINE

The film revolves around a young man from a rural town who has aspirations of becoming a social media star, causing great disappointment to his father, who has put him through B.Tech school to get him ahead in life. After moving to the city, he shares a small rented room with a jolly Sikh friend to create video content for social media, but every attempt has ended in utter failure.

The protagonist, while preparing to conduct funeral rites for the grandfather of a friend, arrives at a unique idea for shooting horror-themed video footage using the abnormal environment of a crematorium where they were engaged in performing the funeral services. During the course of shooting the horror video, the protagonist inadvertently stepped in burning ashes that had fallen off the cremation pyre, and as such, he had the remnants of the burning pyre on the bottom of one of his boots.

Positive Points

Although limited by its budget and featuring a cast of fresh talent, Niharika Sahni has directed an extremely well made film. The film has successfully provided a satirical commentary on the obsession with social media and the pressure of putting yourself ‘out there’ digitally. The film is full of witty dialogue which works well, and the horror-comedy genre reminiscent of Stree adds to a very enjoyable atmosphere. The second half of the film picks up pace and holds the audience’s attention right through to the climax.

Negative Points

Aatmaram Live is a different type of film, combining elements of horror, humour and social satire to tell its story. The film also has an exceptionally low budget, which seems to show in some parts, but despite this limitation, the film remains exciting and engaging and the strong concept for the film provides a very entertaining experience for viewers.

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Overall Verdict: The film's beginning was slow and it is tough for the audience to remain patient with it, as the film takes time to build, but due to the film having such a unique concept, it keeps audiences entertained throughout. The film also has some Low Budget film-esque qualities, and some of the scenes in the film could have used a little more refinement and editing to improve them, but the honesty of the film's content makes up for these shortcomings.