The banyan tree, the bane of every ghostly yarn, is replaced by a gigantic coconut tree in Ganesh Shetty’s short film Paroksh (Invisible). Produced by Drishyam Films, the 12-minute horror-themed film, credited as being “inspired by true events” can be viewed on the company’s YouTube channel.
Set in a village somewhere in Karnataka, the Tulu film stars Amit Sial (Phas Gaye Re Obama, Titli) as Shekhar and Pooja Upasani as Sujaya, a happy couple in charge of a large plantation. Their reverie is disturbed when Sujaya begins to hear a baby’s cry under a coconut tree. The couple tries everything to drive away the otherworldly presence but nothing works. Shamans intervene and relatives stay over to help but the wailing baby refuses to quieten down.
Not much seems to happen in Paroksh. The dialogue is sparse and there is little by way of plot development. But Shetty creates a mood by adroitly using the ethereal feel created by the perfectly chosen location. A brief flurry of possibilities is thrown at the audience. Did these simple people do something horrible in the past? Are they victims of a supernatural power? The explanation is far simpler than any of these, and while it provokes a brief smile, the effective dread created earlier actually merits a grimace.