The Playboy Mr. Sawhney is like 'Sholay' of short films: Tariq Naved Siddiqui

Mumbai: Director Tariq Naved Siddiqui, who is gearing up for the release of 'The Playboy Mr. Sawhney', says the short film is like 'Sholay' of short films which has a big budget and numerous actors.

Siddiqui was interacting with media to promote his short film along with producer Karan Arora on Saturday. 

Talking about casting of the film, Siddiqui said, "This film's cast includes Jackie Shroff, Arjan Bajwa, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Divya Dutta, Neetu Chandra, Manjari Fadnis, Pitobash, Samir Kochhar and Sudhir Mishra."

"The film's duration is about 25 minutes, but it's like a 'Sholay' of short films because cast of this film is really huge and I haven't seen a short film till now which has such a huge star cast. We have also shot it like a feature film."

Talking about the storyline of the film, Siddiqui said, "The subtext of this film is basically a love story of a man who is perceived as a playboy. Jackie Shroff plays the lead character and Arjan Bajwa plays his younger version. 

"We often consider someone as a playboy, but at the end of the day, he is also a human being. Through this film, audiences will be able to see different aspects of the so-called `playboy`. The film also has some strong women characters in the film and I am sure women are going to love this film."

Talking about the growing popularity of digital platform, Siddiqui said, "Nowadays, audiences have less attention span so, there is immense demand for shorter content on digital platform as the consumption of audience has increased over the last few years, especially, among the younger generation. 

"Now it doesn't matter what`s the duration of your film. Now what matters is the subject of your film and how it will impact the audience." Producer Karan Arora said his film is fulfilling not just creatively, but commercially as well. 

"Acceptance of audiences and the current trend have made this format of short films commercially viable now. This is our first production in this category and has been not just creatively fulfilling, but commercially as well." 

'The Playboy Mr. Sawhney' starts with a young man (Tahir), who is facing problems with his girlfriend and seeks advice of his grandfather (Jackie) in the matters of love and life. The film will be released by Royal Stag Barrel Select Large Short Films on October 24.