Aakash Chhabra
Director
Fran Borgia
Producer
Singapore, India
Country
Logline

After getting separated from the love of his life and losing his front teeth in a brutal altercation which ensues after it, a young brass band player in Old Delhi attempts to move on in life by finding his smile back.

Short Synopsis

KISMATEEN, 22, works for a brass band in Old Delhi. An ace trumpeter, he is well liked by his peers, especially the bandmaster ASHOK, 50s, who considers Kismateen his protege.

For the past few months, he has been secretly dating Ashok’s daughter, AVANI, 21, who studies Art History. The two bond over their love for Urdu poetry and Meena Kumari's films.

When Ashok learns of this, he confronts Kismateen. He knocks out Kismateen's teeth and fires him from work. Avani on the other hand is married to a distant relative abroad.

Having lost both his love and his music, Kismateen feels utterly defeated. He moves back to his hometown and starts to work at a salon. Until one day when he comes across a dental clinic advertisement. He realises that the only way he can move ahead in life is if he finds his smile back. The film follows Kismateen’s quest as he tries to get his life back.

AAKASH CHHABRA
Aakash Chhabra

Aakash Chhabra studied film at the Busan Asian Film School (AFiS) and Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute.

His shorts have screened at film festivals in Winterthur, Poitiers, Tehran, Kerala and Dharamshala. His debut short MINTGUMRI (2021) was nominated for the Film Critics' Guild of India Critics' Choice Awards 2022 while his short documentary A WINTER’S ELEGY (2022) featured on Sight and Sound - Best Video Essays of 2022.

He is presently working on his feature-length debut I’LL SMILE IN SEPTEMBER which is a part of the Torino Film Lab's Feature Film Program (Red Sea) 2024. It was developed at the Busan Asian Film School (AFiS) 2022 and Produire au Sud Nantes 2022. It has also participated in the HIFF Project Market 2024 in Ho Chi Minh City, Asian Project Market 2023 in Busan and NFDC Film Bazaar 2023 in Goa.

He is a recipient of the reFrame Genderalities film fellowship 2021-22 and the Rough Edges Uncode Fellowship 2022-23.

FRAN BORGIA
Fran Borgia

Fran Borgia leads Akanga Film Asia, an independent production company based in Singapore, which specialises in auteur driven films from South East Asia and South Asia.

His titles include Tiger Stripes (Amanda Nell Eu, 2023) - Cannes Critics’ Week Grand Jury Prize, Oasis of Now (Chia Chee Sum, 2023) - Berlinale Forum, Tomorrow is a Long Time (Zhi Wei Jow, 2023) - Berlinale Generation,  Yuni (Kamila Andini, 2021) - Toronto International Film Festival Platform Prize, A Land Imagined (Yeo Siew Hua, 2018) - Locarno Golden Leopard Prize,  A Yellow Bird (K Rajagopal, 2016) - Cannes Critics’ Week, A Lullaby To The Sorrowful Mystery (Lav Diaz, 2016) - Berlinale Silver Bear Prize, Sandcastle (Boo Junfeng, 2010) - Cannes Critics’ Week and Here (Ho Tzu Nyen, 2009) - Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.