Private Project

Sweet Savory Life

MALA’S world comes to a halt from the daily commotion of caring for her two children- her husband and a son dealing with chronic illness.

  • Purandhya Sharma
    Director
  • Purandhya Sharma
    Writer
  • Purandhya Sharma
    Producer
  • Elisabeth Akel
    Producer
  • Nidhi Bansal
    Key Cast
    "Mala"
  • Rajveer Singh Rasia
    Key Cast
    "Kartik"
  • Arpit Gupta
    Key Cast
    "Ravi"
  • Project Type:
    Short, Student
  • Runtime:
    5 minutes 36 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 30, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    2,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    Yes - Loyola Marymount University
Director Biography - Purandhya Sharma

Purandhya is an independent filmmaker from India, currently based in Los Angeles. Her first short 'Smaran' (2019) won the Best Screenplay award at the 2020 Kolkata International Film Festival and screened at other festivals including Lift-off Global Network First-Time Filmmaker Sessions, 2020 Meihodo International Youth Visual Media Festival, and 2021 IAWRT Asian Women’s Film Festival. Her recent films, 'Sweet Savory Life' and 'Have a Good One' are centered on South Asian women and the Indian diaspora.

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Director Statement

Sweet Savory Life is a deeply personal story exploring love, loss, and chronic illness within an Indian middle-class household. The film follows Mala, a devoted mother caring for her diabetic son, Kartik, whose world is restricted by his illness and his overprotective parents. His untimely passing, while freeing him from suffering, leaves Mala trapped in an emotional void within a marriage devoid of support. Diabetes becomes a manifestation of the family’s dysfunction—a silent consequence of unspoken tensions. The film questions how illness reshapes one’s world, and how a mother copes with losing the only person who truly understood her. Set in a distinctly Indian cultural context, the film’s spaces—the kitchen, the living room, Kartik’s poster-covered bedroom—reflect care, confinement, and loss. In the end, Kartik is free, embracing his mother in spirit, savoring the love he left behind.