Short films can be such an early alert system for film making talent. Take Chaitanya Tamhane’s short film, Six Strands, which is certainly an indicator of a powerful, distinctive voice that is not afraid to discuss politics and explore surreal experiments in the same film. The film is about a woman tea-estate owner quelling labour trouble, and while convincingly sounding like a North Eastern dialect, it is completely gibberish. His debut feature film Court, which won top awards at the Venice and Mumbai film festivals, bears out that promise.

Umesh Kulkarni’s short Girni also shows early promise, fulfilled in his later feature films including Valu, Vihir, Deool and now Highway. Manikandan M, once a wedding photographer, recently directed his charming debut feature Kaakkaa Muttai (Crows’ Egg, Tamil), which was at the Toronto and Dubai film festivals, and opening film of the Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival. What’s more, it’s being distributed by Fox Star India. Tamil director Vetri Maaran, who won multiple National Awards for his Aadukalam, saw his short film Wind, and decided to co-produce his feature along with top Tamil star Dhanush. Shlok Sharma, who has assisted Anurag Kashyap, directed a strong short film Sujata, before directing his first feature Haraamkhor.