Doha Film Institute
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Ajyal Short Film Programme 2: Faint Traces
In a sleepy old Indian town, convinced that machines are replacing them, three retired men threaten to take over the jobs of household appliances.
In a sleepy old Indian town, convinced that machines are replacing them, three retired men threaten to take over the jobs of household appliances. Pranav Bhasin’s comedy is about the elderly crashing into a future moving too fast to notice them, in a country where family and sentiment still outweigh optimisation. What happens when the future arrives and no one tells you, and how do you remind the world that you were here?

Credits

Director
Pranav Bhasin
Screenwriter
Pranav Bhasin
Producer
Yash Gonsai
Cinematographer
Rajiv Malu
Editor
Pralay Valanju
Music
Yash Sahai
Assistant Director
Ashwin Karthikeyan
Cast
Satish Kashyap, Dvendra Dodke, Arindol Bagchi, Shubham Kujur, Kalpana Gagdekar, Yash Gonsai

About the Director

Pranav Bhasin
Pranav Bhasin is a 29-year-old writer, director and actor from Mumbai. His Academy-qualifying short ‘We Were Here’, executive produced by BAFTA-winning actor Andrew Scott, won the Audience Award at SXSW 2026, Best Live Action Short and Best Comedy Short at Palm Springs ShortFest 2026, and the Canal+ Prize at Clermont-Ferrand 2026. He began making films on YouTube at 15. He is an alumnus of the Zur