The Mushrooms

The Mushrooms : Plot Synopsis
Author : Srija Barua Nalawade & Abhijeet Nalawade

It is the dawn of 1990. On a storm-lashed night on the outskirts of Mumbai, a limping caretaker tends the garden of an ageing, opulent bungalow owned by a powerful Bollywood producer. In a city built by migrants and dreamers, the house stands as a monument to ambition — and to everything buried beneath it.

When a delivery arrives through sheets of rain, the caretaker retreats indoors, sealing himself inside a world that is not his. The walls glow with trophies, film posters, and larger-than-life portraits of the producer and his luminous star, Sarita — a woman worshipped on screen and whispered about off it.

Alone, the caretaker indulges in small, secret luxuries, rehearsing a life he will never lead. But the ritual is interrupted by a sound that does not belong — a safe disturbed, a shadow moving where no one should be.

What follows is not what it seems.

The intruder is neither stranger nor simple thief. Bruised, defiant, and carrying a history the house would rather keep hidden, the intruder forces the caretaker into an uneasy alliance. As rain batters the windows and a midnight fire crackles to life, the two outsiders share a sparse meal and fragments of truth.

By morning, something has grown in the dark and will have changed everything.

In a city that feeds on dreams, what happens when those who live in the shadows decide to step out of them like Mushrooms?

Year:
Category:
Narrative Short
Country of Origin:
India
Director:
Srija Barua Nalawade
Writer:
Srija Barua Nalawade, Abhijeet Nalawade
Producer:
Abhijeet Nalawade, Srija Barua Nalawade
Key Cast:
Abhijeet Nalawade, Anushka Kaushik
Secondary Cast:
Sunny Pillai
Director Of Photography:
Mahesh Aney
Associate Director Of Photography:
Romit Pillai
Costume Designer:
Likhita Udywar
Music Director & Composer:
Paresh Shah, Shubham Shah
Makeup & Hair:
Hemant Sawant, Sushma Sawant
Dramaturgist:
Vinay Kumar
Editor:
Aniket Kale
VFX Supervisor:
Arsh Herekar
Art Director:
Rupesh Pandey
Associate Art Director:
Durga Gupta, Mandeep Mishra
1st Assistant Director:
Vishal Pol
2nd Assistant Director:
Mandar Govilkar
3rd Assistant Director:
Namrata Sawant
Choreographer:
Srishti Mazumdar, Sagar Varma
Assistant Choreographer:
Rashika Bhavanikar
Colorist:
Abhijit Abde, Rahul Thigale
Color Studio:
Disha Rangaalay
Senior Production Manager:
Shubham Dixit
Production Manager:
Shriprakash Yadav
Song:
Kaisi Hai Yeh Shaam Aaj Ki
Singer:
Tarannum Malik
Lyrics:
Shri Paresh Shah, Abhijeet Nalawade
Sound Designer:
Rajesh Chejara
Sound Recordist:
Girija Prasan Mallick
Sound & Dubbing Studio:
Paresh Music Studio
Film Publicist:
Prashant Anaspure, Anaspure Publicity & Media House
Special Thanks:
Abhijit Panse, Nimmy Raphel, Abhijit Pednekar