Indian filmmaking heavyweights Anurag Kashyap and Vasan Bala have come on board to present “Aakhri Ride”, a short thriller that unfolds over a single Halloween night in Mumbai, with a worldwide release set for October 31. The news comes as an exclusive, and it immediately lands as one of the more intriguing short-film plays of the season.
Aakhri Ride (Credits: Variety)
A Cab Driver Pushed to the Edge
Written and directed by Vijesh Rajan and Yashoda Parthasarthy, “Aakhri Ride” marks the duo’s first film. The story follows a Mumbai ride-share driver who is driven to his breaking point across one frightening night — a contained, high-tension premise tailor-made for the short format.
Rather than a theatrical rollout, the short will release on Oh Short Flips, a YouTube channel curated by Kashyap himself. The direct-to-digital strategy fits the project’s indie DNA: no studio machinery, no long wait — just a Halloween-night drop straight to audiences on the day the story itself is set.
Kashyap and Bala’s Indie Stamp of Approval
Having Kashyap and Bala present a debut short carries real weight. Kashyap, one of the architects of India’s indie cinema wave, has long used his influence to spotlight new voices — curating Oh Short Flips as a platform for exactly this kind of work. Bala, whose own genre-bending films have earned cult followings, adds a second vote of confidence that “Aakhri Ride” is worth watching.
The Halloween release date is a smart move. October 31 has become a mini-event window for horror and thriller content in India, and a short that literally takes place on that night gives viewers a ready-made reason to hit play. With two established auteurs backing two first-time filmmakers, “Aakhri Ride” could be the sleeper title everyone’s talking about on November 1.
Source: Variety — read the full story there.
