Ruse

Finte

Generation Kplus 2025

On a rainy afternoon, Kavya and Tara pass the time with their friend Revati at her house. Revati’s mother is not there and the afternoon drags on. The three girls play hide-and-seek and rummage through Revati’s mum’s stuff on her dressing table, finding lipsticks and jewellery and trying them on. Finally, they begin rehearsing a dance they have come up with together. The physical proximity of their bodies triggers a sense of desire for which they do not yet have the words. They end the afternoon knowing this experience will remain a secret and feeling a sense of unease about the messy moment in which they stumbled upon their sexual curiosity.

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by Rhea Shukla (Director, Screenplay)
with Kurangi Vijayshri Nagraj, Akshara Padwal, Sammara Khan India 2025 Hindi, English 10' Colour World premiere | Short Film recommendation: 12 years and up

With

Kurangi Vijayshri Nagraj (Tara)
Akshara Padwal (Kavya)
Sammara Khan (Revati)

Crew

Director	Rhea Shukla
Screenplay	Rhea Shukla
Cinematography	Tanmay Chowdhary
Editing	Anupam Roy Sinha
Sound Design	Sukrit Sen
Casting	Romil Modi
Producer	Aanchal Pugalia
Executive Producer	Aastha Khanna Bhardwaj
Co-Producers	Swasti Sindhu, Tanmay Chowdhary, Soumi Roy Chowdhury

Produced by

Peru Films

Photos

Rhea Shukla

The screenwriter and director is based in New York City and India. She is currently studying at Columbia University. Her focus is on themes of gender, sexuality and identity. Her collaborations include working as a creative producer on Madhu, a short fiction film that premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam. She is also developing her first feature-length fiction film Rafugiri (Darning) – a surreal narrative set in 1990s Delhi.

Filmography

2025 Ruse; short film

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2025