When Eshaani tries to persuade her grandmother Nalini to move in with her family at their new home, she uncovers painful truths that damage their close relationship forever.
Eshaani marks my third short film yet the first to be so personal. The memory that inspired the film is so clear at a time when so much of my life from then is a cloudy haze. Much like Eshaani, it was in that moment I grew up a little too quickly. I watched my parents and grandmother behave and speak in exactly all the ways they had cautioned me not to.
To me Eshaani is as much about the protagonist as it is about the microcosm of growing up in early 2000’s Mumbai. With my father’s business growing, we were moved to better schools, enrolled in extra-curricular activities and the new apartment was the cherry on top. This transcendence across socio-economic class was happening across middle-class families in the city. And despite its obvious advantages, it threatened to upend the way my family had lived for over three decades.
Eshaani for me is an allegory of most Indian children that have grown up in crowded homes. Where no matter how hard parents tried, children were inevitably dragged into adult conversation and conflict. This begs the most important question at the heart of this film - Who in India is privileged enough to remain a child? This film and its central conflict is only possible because of where they live - a tenement style home much like the one I grew up in. On every passing visit to India, old buildings are sold to wealthy developers for redevelopment. The new buildings are impressive but lack the character those buildings acquired over decades. In many ways, This film is as much about Eshaani’s journey as it is to preserve a space on the verge of extinction.
-Jhanvi Motla, Director
THE WORLD
THE TEAM
Jhanvi Motla
Jhanvi is a Los Angeles based filmmaker from Mumbai and a graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory. Her films have been exhibited at AFI Fest, Deauville American Film Festival, Rochester International Film Festival and more. Her short film “MIRAGE” which she wrote and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize at Santa Fe International Film Festival. “THE MANAGER’S WIFE'', her feature directorial debut, was workshopped as part of 1497’s Features Lab in 2023 and Film Independent’s Screenwriting Lab in 2024. Additionally, Motla is an alumni of Film Independent’s Project Involve Program and NALIP’s Production Incubator in partnership with Netflix. In 2024, Jhanvi shadowed director Bradley Buecker on two episodes of ABC series 9-1-1 as part of Ryan Murphy’s HALF Initiative. In addition to writing and directing her own work, Jhanvi works as a producer across mediums including the feature film “At the Gates” starring Noah Wyle and Miranda Otto. In 2026, Jhanvi was selected to be part of Women in Film’s annual fellowship program as part of the directing cohort.
Director/Co-Writer
Tara De Silva
Tara was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. Shortly after Tara was born, Tara's parents, both physicians, followed the lead of the great American settlers that preceded them and headed out west to Lancaster, California — a desert town full of Mexican restaurants, housing tracts, churches and little else. Tara graduated from Wellesley College with a BA in Economics, after which she worked in economic development for the City of Lancaster. She's proud of her hometown, and she's proud to say that it now has a Laemmle's. Tara went on to attend the American Film Institute, where she received her MFA in Screenwriting. After film school, Tara worked as a showrunners’ assistant, writers assistant and script coordinator at ABC Studios. Her writing has been recognized by Sundance's Episodic Storytelling Lab and the Rickshaw Film Foundation. She is repped at Anonymous Content.
Co-Writer
Aishwarya Sonar
Aishwarya Sonar is a producer from Pune, India working at the intersection of US and India projects focused on identity, humanity and joy. A UCLA film graduate, Sonar has worked with Priyanka Chopra’s Purple Pebble Pictures on features before moving to LA. She has produced over 15 short films, which have played at festivals worldwide and distributed on platforms like Disney+/Hotstar, ShortsTv. Her most recent shorts, Nails world premiered at Red Sea International Film Festival, Happy Rakhi, in association with CAPE and Janet Yang premiered at the Palm Springs ShortFest and, Hema, premiered at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles where it won the Audience Choice Award.Sonar’s projects have been selected as part of Film London’s Production Finance Market, Film Bazaar’s Co-Production Market and Blackmagic collective’s Producer Lab. In 2025, Sonar was selected as a Film Independent Project Involve fellow where she produced the short film “Pack”. Pack premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival in 2026. Currently, Sonar is in development on a slew of different projects, namely “Teacher’s Pet” which has Vikramaditya Motwane (Udaan, Jubilee) attached as Executive Producer, and Sindhu Murthy (Achaar & Co) set to direct.
Producer
Alan Torres
Alan Torres is a Los Angeles based cinematographer. He is a graduate of the American Film Institute's prestigious cinematography MFA program and an alumnus of Film Independent's Project Involve artist development program. Alan’s artistic interests focus on story driven cinematography to enhance what is on the page. His work has been featured on Hulu, Netflix, Channel 4 and BET+. His most recent narrative project is feature film “AT THE GATES”, a story about undocumented immigrants in Los Angeles, produced by Beacon Pictures. In addition to his narrative work he is also working on a documentary in Mexico on Bacanora, a spirit unknown to the world, and is also a frequent collaborator with Jaden Smith on his music videos and his fashion company MSFTSrep. More of Alan’s work can be found on his website.
Cinematographer
Jacob Ehrlich
Jacob Ehrlich is a film editor from Los Angeles, California. He recently graduated from Tufts University with a degree in Film & Media Studies and Computer Science. Jacob has edited several award winning short films and web-series. He recently edited his feature film debut, At The Gates (2022) directed by Augustus Meleo Bernstein, which premiered at The Deauville Film Festival. Jacob has worked on the editorial team of projects like Father of the Bride 2 (HBO Max), Seekers of Infinite Love (SXSW), Love, Death and Robots (Netflix), The Electric State (Netflix) and many more. Currently, Jacob is preparing to produce his first feature film “Drudge” set to be directed by Kheireddine El-Helou.
Editor
Kunal Rajan
Sound Designer
KUNAL RAJAN moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in Hollywood after having worked on feature films in India. Following work on several production sound jobs, he transitioned to post production sound in 2006. He worked with Sound Dogs, one of the world's largest sound effects companies, on films such as Blades of Glory, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, and The Spiderwick Chronicles. Kunal Rajan has since worked on several prestigious projects as Sound Designer and won several Awards for his Sound Design on projects such as Fear Clinic, Vishwaroopam, Blue. He has worked with director Jon M. Chu (Step up Series, G.I. Joe Retaliation), F. Gary Gray (Law Abiding Citizen, Fast and Furious 8), Kamal Haasan and Oscar winners A.R.Rahman, Resul Pookutty. After finishing work on Shah Rukh Khan's JAWAN in 2023 which was India's highest grossing film of the year, Kunal is currently working on Director Shankar's INDIAN 2 which will be a sequel to the iconic INDIAN released in 1996. Kunal has successfully completed over a hundred and seventy five films as of May 2024.