Rastogi Anupam Kher, Natasha Surya Balakrishnan years sees love in the silver Day special about when This Valentine’s questions face a barrage of character, Nanu, lady friend. Anupam Kher’s kheer for a discover him making his little grandkids

A60-year-old Jackie Shroff tries to explore kinky sex with a 57-year-old Neena Gupta. They fumble spectacularly (furry handcuffs almost go on the foot) but succeed in putting the spice back into their relationship. That’s Khujli, a 16-minute short film. “When I first heard the script, I was rolling-on-the-floor laughing,” says

Shroff. “I think it has an important message to couples who have stopped being romantic after their kids have grown.”

That message has played out on about 1.1 lakh mobile and computer screens in the three weeks since the film’s release. It’s one of many web shorts — short films created for and distributed on the internet — that are drawing Bollywood stars and, in the process, changing the short-film industry in India.

What are big names doing in such a small format, working with young firsttimers like Khujli director Sonam Nair?

Ironically, many are finding creative liberation. “Most actors are doing short films for free or for very little money,” says Kalki Koechlin. “I’m doing it for creative satisfaction. Also, these films are available online, free, at all times. That makes them a good way to get through to people.”

Big-screen veterans like Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah have shown up in sweet romantic short films like Kheer and Interior Café Night.

Actors like Manoj Bajpayee, Konkona Sen Sharma and Tisca Chopra are featuring in dark short films like Taandav, Kriti and Chutney. Last month, Koechlin made a statement against online trolling in a 15-minute short titled Naked.

Director Neeraj Pandey, whose films generally deal with politics and nationalism, took to light laughs with his short film, Ouch, starring Manoj Bajpayee as a cheating husband. Imtiaz Ali’s India Tomorrow, brief and evocative at just six minutes long, has a sex worker discussing stocks with a client. For those who’ve followed India’s steady output of web shorts over the past decade, the plusses are clear. The format allows for out-of-the-box storylines and nontraditional storytelling.

For actors, going short has other advantages: The medium isn’t dependent on weekend box-office results. Quick schedules mean a shorter commitment. And there’s the chance to take on risqué roles and never-seen-before avatars.

“Short films give you an amazing opportunity to experiment and surprise yourself and others,” says actor Manoj Bajpayee, who says his wife Neha urged him to try them out.

Director Shirish Kunder loves that the films are out there, online, for anyone to watch or rewatch when they please. “When you’re making a web short there’s no question of

(will it work or not),” he says.

His own short film, a psychological thriller titled Kriti, has had millions of views since its release in June. “Also, in feature films, you have to play safe. If you keep jumping genres, the producers will not trust you. But here you can experiment with genres. I had never done a dark thriller before. By making one I prove that I can.”

Tisca Chopra, who wrote, produced and acted in Chutney, says she did so out of or desperation. “Roles in feature films are few and far between and rarely exciting,” she admits. “Supporting stories that other people would not back inspired me.”

A 15-minute film featuring a well-known, top-billed actor is undoubtedly a shot in the arm for viewership. Fans of the star log in to watch. Casual browsers tend to give the film a shot. A big name lends credibility and recall value.

For filmmakers, it’s a win-win. Relatively unknown director Devashish Makhija found the spotlight on him when Manoj Bajpayee starred in his short film, Taandav, in February 2016.

Bajpayee’s boost helped enough for Makhija to make his next short, Absent, without any star two months later, and still garner 2 million views.

Film critic Anupama Chopra points out that when 10 or 12 million people are watching one Tisca Chopra or Manoj Bajpayee short, a significant number will also click on other films made by unknown directors. “Every film featuring a celebrity or getting directed by a popular director is helping this industry grow,” she says. Makhija believes web shorts have become popular because they capitalise on viewers’ brief attention spans and because the internet is not at the mercy of distributers. “The viewer and the creator are one click away from each other,” he says.

Kunder, on the other hand, finds that making short films allows a director a more varied audience — a great resource when you’re making feature films as well.

“I often go through the comments on my short film and there are many people watching who are not the typical web audience — urban, savvy and English-speaking. They also give honest feedback,” he says. “The intellectual crowd is not the only one watching shorts, people from all social strata are viewing them.”

It’s a better platform when your message Web shorts generally take very little time to shoot — two or three days, on average. What takes longer, directors say, is pre-production. ‘You know you only have the star for those couple of days, so everything has to be set up, every detail in place,’ says Devashish Makhija. This can take a month. Most Bollywood stars currently take little or no money to feature in a web short. As Kalki Koechlin put it, they do it for creative satisfaction. The cost of even an A-list web short is therefore very low — from as little as Rs 50,000 to about Rs 12 lakh.

The filmmakers could just leverage the A-listers and promote it online, but they tie up with platforms such as Pocket Films, Terribly Tiny Talkies, Large Short Films, HumaraMovie, Muvizz.com and Six Sigma Films for that initial boost that comes from a ready web audience. These platforms already have between 25,000 and 500,000 subscribers, and that helps the film go viral. In such cases, the platform gets to keep most of the ad revenue they make from the movie; the director gets a cut.

Short films give you an amazing opportunity to experiment and surprise yourself and others.