Zari

Directed By Shruti Parekh

India | Narrative | 20 min

Indian-American tomboy Neelu is in Delhi, India, with her family to prepare for her older sister’s wedding. Dragged to a sari store to shop for wedding outfits, Neelu feels uncomfortable with the gendered expectations of her role as sister of the bride. At the sari store, she encounters Zeyb, a quiet clerk who expertly models saris on the floor for customers. When Neelu later discovers that Zeyb leads a secret life as Zari, an internet drag artist, the two outsiders discover an unexpected connection that helps them better understand themselves.

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    Film Details

    1. English, Hindi

    2. English

    3. 2024

    4. 20 minutes

    5. Comedy, Coming-of-Age, Drama

    6. Narrative

    7. India

      8. Shruti Parekh


      Shruti Parekh is an Atlanta-bred, Brooklyn-based writer/director/producer and editor. Her most recent short, ZARI, was produced as a winner of the CAPE/Janet Yang Productions Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge and won the Grand Jury and Audience Awards at NewFest as well as the Audience Awards at San Luis Obispo International Film Festival and Inside Out Toronto. Shruti’s previous short, ESPERANZA, won four awards and screened at over 20 festivals. Shruti has a BA from Brown University and an MFA in Directing from UCLA. She is currently finishing her fourth short film, HOMEBODY.

      9. Kajri Akhtar

        Shruti Parekh

      10. Shruti Parekh

      11. Kamal Batra (Zeyb/Zari)

        Aesha Soni (Neelu)

      12. CAST: Kundan Kumar (Prem), Richa Kalra (Rita), Padma Damodaran (Lalita)

        CREW: DP: Aditya Kapur, Production Designer: Mausam Aggarwal, Costume Designer: Huma Z. Khan, Composer: David Sharma, Editors: Rajdeep Mitra & Shruti Parekh

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