THE DISGUISE

The Disguise is an intimate film about the lives of two women in London. One is conservative, holding on to her native symbols and customs, while the other is liberal and assimilated into the western world. One day, an incident on the road, a hate crime, pushes matters to a head, and forces them to rethink their concepts of identity.

This film makes no attempt to arrive at any answers, and instead just leaves some questions hanging: what is culture? What is integration? What is acceptance? And who decides how we choose to live?

  • Sandeep A. Varma
    Director
    Manjunath, The Virgins, Kahanibaaz
  • Riya Mukherjee
    Writer
  • Riya Mukherjee
    Producer
  • Naomi Willow
    Key Cast
    "Rabia"
  • Adriana Grigoriev
    Key Cast
    "Lena"
  • Zed Josef
    Key Cast
    "Hashim"
  • Jennifer Scott-Malden
    Key Cast
    "Lena's mom"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Slice of Life
  • Runtime:
    17 minutes 38 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 1, 2018
  • Production Budget:
    38,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED
  • Aspect Ratio:
    1:2.39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • South Asian Short Film Festival
    Kolkata
    India
    March 26, 2019
    India Premiere
    Ritwik Ghatak Trophy for Short Fiction - Bronze
  • Lonely Seal International Festival
    Massachusetts
    United States
    Award Winner - Best Woman Film Maker
  • Oaxaca Film Festival
    Oaxaca
    Mexico
    Finalist
  • Southern Shorts Awards
    Georgia
    United States
    12 individual awards
  • Best Shorts Competition
    California
    United States
    North america Premiere
    Award of Excellence
  • Accolade Global Film Competition
    California
    United States
    Award of Merit
  • Swindon Independent Film Festival
    Swindon
    United Kingdom
    April 16, 2019
    UK Premiere
    Official Selection
  • International Screen Awards
    Jakarta
    Indonesia
    Platinum Award
  • Vancouver International Short Film Festival
    Vancouver
    Canada
    Official Selection
  • Best of India Short Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Int Documentary & Short Film Fest of Kerala
    Trivandrum
    India
    Official Selection
  • Social Political Short Film Festival
    Montana
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Bozeman Film Festival
    Bozeman
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Habitat Film Festival
    New Delhi
    India
    Official Selection
  • Jaffna International Film Festival
    Jaffna
    Sri Lanka
    Official Selection
  • Commffest GLobal Comunity Film Festival
    Toronto
    Canada
    Canada Premiere
    Official Selection
  • India International Film Festival of Boston
    Boston
    United States
    Official Selection
  • Respect Human Rights Film Festival
    Belfast
    Ireland
    Ireland premiere
    Official Selection
  • Lady Filmmakers Festival
    Beverly Hills
    United States
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Sandeep A. Varma

Sandeep A. Varma is an award winning filmmaker. As a writer, director and producer he’s won multiple accolades and recognitions. His feature film Manjunath won the Ramnath Goenka Award for cinematic excellence & the best screenplay award at the Screen Awards 2015 apart from being nominated for the Best Debut Director Award.

His short film, The Virgins, has crossed 14 millions views since its release in 2016. It has been felicitated at several festivals including Jio Filmfare, Delhi Shorts International & Noida International.

Sandeep has also written & directed Kahanibaaz, starring Ashish Vidyarthi, for Royal Stag Large Shorts.

Apart from his filmmaking career, Sandeep is an experienced entrepreneur. He is the managing director of Icomo, a Mumbai based boutique creative agency. He has recently co-founded Filmboard Movies, a film & tech based start-up that seeks to revolutionize the way content is created in this country.

An engineering degree from BITS PILANI, an MBA from FMS, along with rich corporate work experience, allow Sandeep to straddle these various roles with acumen and ease.

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Director Statement

When you live in a large multi-racial, multi-ethnic and religious city, how much should you become like them, and how much of 'yourself' should you hold on to? This premise of 'The Disguise' is what attracted me - the subtle war between the 'native' and 'migrant'. Rabia wants to stay close to her conservative Lebanese roots. But at a bus stop in London, something shocking happens that makes her question that. A local Londoner, Lena, present at the bus stop, helps her, and their stories intersect. But Lena only appears to be a 'native'. She has Slovakian Muslim roots. What happens with both , how their stories intersect, is what this film is about.

Set at an ambling pace, and yet dramatic, capturing the inner streets of London, The Disguise is a personal intimate story that raises questions which have no definitive answers.