Filmmaker Nihit Bhave’s short film Ayesha starring Fatima Sana Shaikh, Vaishnavi Ratna Prashant and Kshitee jog will premiere at Tokyo’s Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in June and compete for nomination in the short film categories for Oscars 2025.
Nihit, who also wrote the screenplay of the movie, announced the news on Thursday. “I’m absolutely thrilled to announce that our short film premieres at the Oscar-qualifying @ssff.official this June, and we’re in the Asia-International competition,” he wrote on Instagram alongside a poster of the film.
Expressing his gratitude towards filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane and producer Shikha Jain, Nihit also wrote, “I’m so grateful that @motwayne and @shikhajain10 gave me a quick nod, and I was able to make @ayeshadotshort.”
Heaping praise on Fatima, Vaishnavi and Kshitee, Nihit wrote, “@fatimasanashaikh came onboard with her amazing perspective and enthusiasm! @kshiteejog, who I was always a fan of, also said yes! @vaishnaveerp and I reunited after Choked.”
The filmmaker also went on to thank cast members Ami Trivedi and Swaroopa Ghosh for trusting a new director” during the shoot.Produced by Shikha Jain, Vikramaditya Motwane and Saurabh Garg, Ayesha revolves around a Muslim housekeeper who takes a one-day job at a Hindu household.
Fatima also took to Instagram and shared the news with her fans. “It’s a really special short film that I’ve gotten to be a part of and now we’re competing at the Oscar-qualifying Short Shorts Film Festival in Tokyo. Happiness,” she wrote.
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia is an Academy Awards-accredited festival where the winner from the Live-action, Animation as well as the Non-Fiction Competition will be eligible for nomination in the short film categories of the Oscars the following year.
Nihit has assisted Anurag Kashyap for the Netflix series, Sacred Games and Lust Stories. He is known for writing the scripts of Sacred Games Season 2, Choked and Dobaaraa. His short film Phir Kabhi has competed at 10 festivals, including the Chicago South Asian Film Festival.
