So what if robots exist?

 

    Based on the short story by Satyajit Ray, Sujoy Ghosh has directed the short film Anukul in an intelligent and realistic manner depicting the possible conflict between humans and robots in the near future. The story focuses on the bachelor Nikunj (Sourabh Shukla), who hires an android robot called Anukul (Parambrata Chatterjee) to take care of his housework. The robot, Anukul, requires neither holidays nor weekends off and works without any additional pay. It is quite unlikely that any wealthy individual would not want such a robot, hence fueling the unemployment rate and rising dissent among crowds towards these robots, Nikunj’s brother himself being one of them. Despite facing objections from various individuals for hiring a robot, Nikunj still continues to defend the robot even at the end of the film, where it takes a rather dark twist.

          The relationship between Nikunj and Anukul is that of one between a teacher and his student. The film cleverly incorporates lessons from the Gita which the robot learns in the due course of his stay in Nikunj’s house while also trying to imitate human emotions. It is interesting to see how Ghosh has preserved ethics and cultural teachings while displaying a story with developments as futuristic as human-like robots. Although the film has the play of advanced technology, it conserves realism through the portrayal of everyday scenes as they are; the idea of a robot for hire is introduced to us at the beginning of the film in a series of dialogues that give rise to suspicion.

          Much of the essence of the film is portrayed through gestures and expressions rather than dialogues which the actors have done an impeccable job portraying. The attention and emotion of the audience are drawn in during the course of the movie. Symbolism is well highlighted in the film where the robot wears a striped blue and white shirt and black shorts like Lord Krishna.

          As always, Satyajit Ray’s story, one of a visionary’s, has been made into a respectable and clever short film still gauging the attention of its audience. It is a story quite likely to happen in the future. The advancements shown in the film might have seemed far-fetched at the time Satyajit Ray had written the story but in these modern times, it is quite acceptable and even expected. The scientific fantasy elements incorporated with values and morality along with the realism and emotion depicted make for a masterpiece of a short film.