Shalini is On The Lot
By Priya Patel
Published May 29, 2007
IÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ve kinda gotten sucked into FOXÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s new reality show On The Lot where a group of talented aspiring movie directors are given weekly challenges to make short films and are voted off by viewers American Idol-style.
Last nightÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s episode featured the filmmakers 1-minute comedy shortsÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡ there were definite standouts (Adam SteinÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s Dance Man) and films that left me scratching my head (Kenny LubyÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s Wack Alley Cab).
Of the eighteen contestants is documentary filmmaker Shalini Kantayya of Brooklyn, NY. While her comedy short wasnÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡t conceptually one of the best last night, it was still beautifully shot and sent me off to Google to search for her work.
I found her film A Drop of Life, starring Nandita Das and liked what I saw in the trailer.
From the movieÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s web site:
"Set in the near future, A DROP OF LIFE is the story of two women, a village teacher in rural India and an African American corporate executive, whose disparate lives intersect when they are both confronted with lack of access to clean drinking water."
This woman has definitely got a voice. Tune in tonight to the results show to see if she stays in the competition. (And read more about her from Ego MagazineÔø‡Ôø‡Ôø‡s interview with her last year.)
On The Lot airs on Monday and Tuesday nights at 8/7 c on FOX.