Why you'll love the suspense in Sidharth Goutam's Odia films

Nothing is as exciting as watching a short suspense film. And that is exactly what Sidharth Goutam's Royals is offering —  a good, 17-minute film about two youngsters and the suspense they deal with. While the citizens of Bhubaneswar were treated to a special screening of the short film on November 17 at Badmaash Restaurant, we only caught this Odia short film when it was released on November 22 on YouTube.

Among all directors, Quentin Tarantino is his "supreme inspiration," he says

After pursuing BTech from ITER and passing out in 2014, Sidharth worked in Bengaluru with TCS for about three years, but when he stumbled upon filmmaking workshops, he knew he had to heed to his calling and become a filmmaker. The 26-year-old has been in Nashik for the past six months doing freelance work before which, he was working in Bhubaneswar. He has even worked as an Assistant Director with Amartya Bhattacharyya for his first movie Capital I. But it all started when he used to watch movies of American director Stanley Kubrick. "His sense of aesthetic is just so inspiring," says the director who is four short films old.

Assisting director Amartya Bhattacharyya | (Pic: Sidharth Goutam)

Royals stars Dipanwit Dashmohapatra and Radha Krushna as protagonists and the story was brewing in Sidharth's mind since November 2016. He involved actor Dipanwit in the screenplay-writing process because he believed that, "An actor and his inputs can also be priceless in movies."

He has also directed music videos, short comedy sketches and mini-series as well. He was also an Assistant Director for the movie Hausla Na Ruthe featuring Illa Arun

Sidharth goes on to talk about his movie-making style and says, "I usually like to direct stories that I have lived or experienced and like to do an exaggerated version of it. I love drama and I try to find the drama in everything," says Sidharth. Apart from drama, another genre he likes is suspense. And after Royals, we are convinced that he does have the skillset needed. "When the trailer of Royals released, I knew everyone had a different story as to how things would unfold in the film, but what really happens is beyond imagination," he explains. His last movie Chup travelled to Filmingo International Short Film Festival and won the second place at the South Asian Short Film Festival.

Sidharth on set | (Pic: Sidharth Goutam)

Another interesting point Sidharth makes is about the story itself. "Everyone says that the story is the ultimate aspect of a film. I agree, but I believe there are two other aspects that are equally important — editing and cinematography. These two elements can change everything. The story is important, but so are the technical aspects," he asserts.

His previous work:

A Virtue (2015) 

Is a sweet film about being good to others

Busy (2017) 

An interesting film about mobile addiction

Chup (2019) 
 

This film is about the current scenario of our country

For more on him, check out facebook.com/GoutamSidharthArtist