Yes Sir!

Ramnarayan Tiwari, a Brahmin (dominant caste in India) is a peon/attendant in a government office to a Dalit (lower caste community that has been oppressed and treated as 'untouchables' by upper castes for centuries) who has risen to become a big officer. Tiwari burns with resentment towards this officer’s hierarchical superiority because he considers himself superior as per the religiously ingrained caste system. Tiwari is also frustrated as his promotion has been overdue for years.

The officer’s bathroom’s drain has choked. Tiwari tries to look for the official sweeper, also a lower caste man.

This story is about how this reverse hierarchical order, and Tiwari's caste prejudice towards the officer, counterbalance each other to solve the problem of the choked drain.

  • MUDIT SINGHAL
    Director
    Closet, Vortex
  • MUDIT SINGHAL
    Writer
  • MUDIT SINGHAL
    Producer
  • PRADEEP KUMAR SINGHAL
    Producer
  • JASVEER SINGH DANGI
    Producer
  • MUKESH BHATT
    Key Cast
    "Tiwari"
    Bloody Daddy, Special 26, Rocket Singh - Salesman of the Year
  • SONU ANAND
    Key Cast
    "Narottam Saroj"
    Closet
  • SHAILENDRA SAHU
    DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
    Aani Mani
  • Prof. (Dr.) AJAY NAVARIA
    STORY WRITER
  • RAJAT TIWARI
    BACKGROUND MUSIC & SONG
  • ARNOLD SWAMY
    EDITOR
  • SWAPNIK RAO
    SOUND RECORDIST
  • ROHAN MARK D'SOUZA
    SOUND DESIGN
  • ANINDYA S RAY
    COLOURIST
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Drama, Comedy, Social Issue
  • Runtime:
    20 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    August 31, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    7,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    India
  • Country of Filming:
    India
  • Language:
    Hindi
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital (Blackmagic 6K Pro)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2023
    Seattle
    United States
    October 13, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection (In Competition)
  • Yellowstone International Film Festival 2023
    Delhi
    India
    October 26, 2023
    Asia Premiere
    Official Selection (In Competition)
  • Lift-Off First-time Filmmaker Sessions 2023
    London
    United Kingdom
    Official Selection (in Competition)
  • Goa Short Film Festival 2023
    Goa
    India
    November 4, 2023
    Official Selection (In Competition)
  • Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival 2024
    Mumbai
    India
    February 19, 2024
    Official Selection (In Competition)
  • DC South Asian Film Festival 2023
    Washington DC
    United States
    December 4, 2023
    Official Selection (In Competition)
  • Kolkata International Film Festival 2023
    Kolkata
    India
    Official Selection (Non-Competition)
  • Jaipur International Film Festival 2024
    Jaipur
    India
    Jaipur Premiere
    Nominated (In Competition)
  • Ayodhya Film Festival 2023
    Ayodhya
    India
    December 3, 2023
    Official Selection
Director Biography - MUDIT SINGHAL

Mudit Singhal is an aspiring screenwriter and director, having written two feature-length film scripts so far, the stories of which had been shortlisted in the first round of Cinestaan Scriptwriting contest in Mumbai, India, in 2018 and 2019.

Before 'Yes Sir!', he has made two short films, Vortex (2015) and Closet (2018), the latter of which was picked as the 'Short of the Week' by Royal Stag Barrel Select ‘Large Short Films’ in 2018.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, known as the Father of the Indian Constitution, in his undelivered speech 'Annihilation of Caste' in 1936, had mentioned the following:

"Caste is not a physical object like a wall of bricks or a line of barbed wire which prevents the Hindus from commingling and which has, therefore, to be pulled down. Caste is a notion; it is a state of mind. The destruction of caste does not therefore mean the destruction of a physical barrier. It means a notional change."

It is this notion of caste that unfortunately prevails in India (and the subcontinent) even today, and we are still very much caged inside it. 'Yes Sir!' is a story of how a notional change can still happen, albeit only slightly. The attempt is to show this in a lighter vein, as it is a story where the typical roles of an officer and a peon are reversed - a Brahmin serving as a peon to a Dalit, a senior officer at a government undertaking - and how this reversed hierarchy creates an awkward, and funny situation for the peon because of a mundane problem that needs to be fixed, almost like how the issue of caste needs to be fixed.

From a visual perspective, we have attempted to hint at this narrow-minded notion by filming the story in 4:3 frame which opens up to a wider frame only in the closing shot, and also not showing the peon and his officer in one frame (from his POV) until the point where his mindset starts to change a bit.