Y2K Films / The Sneeze Absurdist Fantasy · 23 min

The Sneeze

Short Film · 2024 · Mumbai
१ About the Film

Hell is a hotel with strange lighting and a receptionist who sneezes at all signs of life. Kaushal, freshly dead lawyer, meets Ruhi, freshly dead documentary filmmaker, in the corridor outside their rooms. They flirt through their own funerals, waltzing through the will-they-won't-they purgatory, building up to an uncanny romance.

And then Kaushal asks the wrong question.

A surreal Hindi-English short about cosmic admin, romantic timing, and the inconvenience of remembering how you died.

२ Stills
The Sneeze — corridor, Ruhi and Kaushal
The Sneeze — silhouettes through glass
The Sneeze — candlelit table
३ Credits
Written and Directed by Yashvardhan Shukla
Produced by Yashvardhan Shukla
Dev Gangani

Cast

Delzad Hiwale as Kaushal Kasturi
Tushar Tengale as Receptionist
Tanu Rawat as Ruhi Rastogi
Divya Kharnare as The Fugitive

Camera Department

Director of Photography Dev Gangani
1st AC Sahil Gavhane
2nd AC Prem Raut
Focus Puller Bhavya Vaghasiya
Camera & Grips Pawan Sambhoji

Lighting

Harshal Shinde
Kush Joshi
Atharva Barbade
Divyal Shinde
Rahul Pawar
Sagar Bhandari

Direction & Production

Chief AD Rajeev
1st AD Kartiki Kale
2nd AD Anushka Shukla
Line Producer Dhanraj Chondhe

Art Department

Storyboarding Vivek Rawat
Production Design Vivek Rawat
Set Dressers Abanda · Niyatee

Editorial & Animation

Editing Siva Chand
Animation Anuj Choudhary

Hair · Makeup · Costume

Hair and Styling Kartiki Kale
Makeup Yuga

Sound

Boom Nitya Desai
Sound Recordists Animesh Patil · Roman
Sound Design Sudin Nair
Music Jayahari Kavalam
Voiceovers Anushka Shukla · Raag Trivedi

Location

Shot on Location at Bhartiya Vidya Peeth College

Music Credits

"The Blue Danube", Op. 314
by Johann Strauss II

Performed by Das Orchester Tsumugi / Takashi Inoue
Live recorded on 10 March 2024
Fukuoka Symphony Hall, Japan

Source: IMSLP · Creative Commons, Attribution 4.0

For screener requests, write to submissions@y2kfilms.com.