Mayur Puri’s 'Firdaws' is that kind of short movie that makes you wonder. First of all, it will make you reconsider the existence of the human being, it will raise important questions that are hard to answer and for some reason, it will be extremely delightful and oddly satisfying. We watched the movie twice for two main reasons, the first being that we needed to get all the depths and the hidden meanings of the plot, and the second because we were really into this short and thought it simply deserves a second watch.

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Despite its simplistic approach, cinematography is really good as everything from the camera movement to the shadows was pretty well thought beforehand and we can easily spot that this is indeed a professional movie, without a single trace of amateurism. The dialogue is intriguing – not only it debates some problems that are somehow taboo in our day and age, but the language is quite sharp and edgy. Actually, the word “edgy” is the best one to describe 'Firdaws', and that is because Mayur Puri's project is not one you would expect to see in a regular festival. The complexity of the dialogue and the hidden meanings towards the end are assuring the viewer that this is not just a movie, but an entire sensorial experience.

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The characters are well drawn and presented, being mysterious until some point, misleading the viewer and playing with their thoughts. In the director's statement, Mayur Puri writes that 'Firdaws' has a powerful anti-terrorism message, being inspired from the quote of Mirza Ghalib, that reads: "I know the truth about heaven. But for the appeasement of heart it's a nice thought, Ghalib!". From our point of view, the film has indeed a powerful anti-violence message, but if it was for us, we would have ended this short with that Pixies song that contoured our whole 90’s movie experience, 'Where is my mind' for the only purpose of being the most uplifting theme that could go back to back with such an amazing idea.

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Written by Vlad A. G