Short Film: Happy Birthday Mummy Ji
Cast: Shefali Shah
Director: Shefali Shah
OTT: YouTube
Rating: 3.5 Moons
Happy Birthday Mummy Ji is a short film that conveys a very strong message on how women are taken for granted by their family for all the care and attention they give to their family and family members. Written, directed and starred by Shefali Shah, Happy Birthday Mummy Ji is a poignant story about how sometimes we need space from our family so that we can rediscover and rejuvenate ourselves.
The story starts with Shefali’s character preparing for a party that she has planned for her mother-in-law. She is the sole person from her family who is managing everything for her mom-in-law’s 75th birthday party that will be attended by the latter’s daughter and her family and Shefali and her husband. However, neither of the birthday girl’s children is doing a bit for the supposed party. Amid the preparations, lockdown is announced and Shefali is stranded at the party venue alone with the family unable to make it from Mumbai. However, she manages to convince her husband and sister-in-law to surprise their mother and celebrate the birthday in Mumbai.
Shefali is dismayed that her preparations are going waste but the story takes a turn when she realizes that her efforts are not appreciated by her husband, her sister-in-law or her mother-in-law who does not fail to take a sly dig at her cooking. In a significant scene, where the actress unhooks her bra she starts to enjoy her solitude away from her family and also indulges in some non-vegetarian food which is significant as in the first scene she order Jain food for the party.
Shefali’s acting has always been top-notch but in Happy Birthday Mummy Ji, she manages to impress with the story as well as her direction. She is the sole person on the screen and yet never allows the audience’s interest to waver. The last scene where she tells a simple white lie, stands for the fact what all women have to undergo to rediscover themselves, breathe a sigh of freedom and allow some semblance to creep back into their lives from the stifling family.
Watch Happy Birthday Mummy Ji for the simple yet hard-hitting story it tells in just 14 minutes which is also a great trope for the fourteen days quarantine one has to undergo when infected with coronavirus.
PeepingMoon.com gives Happy Birthday Mummy Ji, 3.5 Moons!
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