Aquarium
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Aquarium | Reviewed by Gaurav Dutta
Aquarium” a short film directed by Tanuj Mallick is of the times of the COVID era, where we only knew our homes to be the place to roam about, and our only safe zones. Th utmost havoc and mayhem created by the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 was a mess we all are a part of. Deaths, infections and fear was spread worldwide.
The social economic atmosphere of the world was shaken, each and every individual felt the scope of pain running down their veins. This movie portrays a similar story of someone affected through the COVID times. Rajat, a human just like us got him to bond with an aquarium bowl just as he was isolated from the social media. As the time passed in terms of days, he started drifting away into a world of imaginations and away from the world’s painful offerings. He describes his time through the lockdown in terms of a biography as every passing day, and how he finally comes out from his shell on Day 62 to get some home essentials where he meets a friend of his and seems to be happy about it as things appear to be normal again.
Sadly, his friend is admitted to the COVID ward just 48 hours later, causing his one ray of hope to set down back in to the darkness. As the movie passes by its length, Rajat starts seeing his reflection in the aquarium bowl, as a fish stuck in a bowl of water with the same area to rotate through and stay there. He states his starving for three days as due to the cyclone recently had taken away electricity, water and food.
Finally, he confirms he has eaten, showing us an empty aquarium bowl, as the fish is what went to his empty stomach. The visualization of a matchstick lit up to look like a door, and the sound of the railway track in the same moment is really commendable. The concept itself being clear and amazing in its own way. A beautiful short film to watch, that brings you to thinking, weren’t we all a part of this time and gets to make you feel how we survived through this all.
Gaurav Dutta is a B.com graduate from Kolkata, schooling from St. Joseph’s College having a passion for writing since childhood. On the other hand, he also excels in the career of accounting and finance. A writer by his own choice, and aims to make a mark in the gaming industry through his coding abilities.
