A timid man joins a mysterious support group to boost his confidence.


GROUP C is used with permission from Imran J. Khan. Learn more at   / imranjkhan   and   / kunal_d  .


Naveen is a shy, unassertive family man. He has a loving home life, but he often finds himself bulldozed at work. After one particularly pointed public humiliation, a sympathetic client tells Naveen about a support group aimed at boosting the confidence of people like him. Reluctant to explore at first, Naveen eventually decides to seek the group out.

He discovers the group is exactly what he needs, tapping into his "inner child" with unconventional preschool activities that heal his shyness and inability to assert himself. His membership in the group improves his real life and his standing at work, but when Naveen tries to move on from the group, he discovers that the group isn't as fun and benevolent as it seems.

Directed by Imran J. Khan from a script written by Kunal Dudheker, who also plays lead character Naveen, this smart, intriguing short comedythriller deftly blends tones and genres in a story about a meek man seeking more confidence and stumbling into a situation darker than he ever imagined. The storytelling is whimsical and sympathetic at the start, building up Naveen's character and milieu: he's essentially a milquetoast of a man who can't stand up or assert himself, and he tends to vomit when he gets anxious. The writing deftly captures those moments when Naveen feels most small and helpless in the face of more aggressive people and institutions.

The pivot in both tone and narrative comes when Naveen gets a hint at a solution to his problems, and he enters the world of "Group C," the mysterious support group for people like him. Group C is fascinatingly weird and childish, and the storytelling has fun with the group's exercises, which resemble a crazy preschool, though there's also the sense of a creepy, cultlike atmosphere pulling Naveen in. Yet viewers can also see how this "safe space" allows its members to act with a certain degree of freedom and abandon that doesn't often have expression in adult life.

By giving him a space free of repression to explore his feelings, Naveen has more energy and confidence, which he carries into his real life. He speaks up at work; he pitches more ideas; he seems happier at home. With life on the upswing, he believes he doesn't need Group C anymore. But Group C thinks otherwise, leading the film into its final suspenseful section, as Naveen realizes there's more to the group than just grownup fun and games.

Entertaining, compelling and delightfully unhinged at times, GROUP C is an ambitious short in its highwire juggling act, packing in observational humor, dark satire and unsettling suspense. But it's all held together by dynamic camerawork and confident writing, as well as an excellent performance by Dudheker, who never loses his character's innate decency or sympathy, even as Naveen gains confidence. It's that confidence that will help him take on the sinister nefariousness he faces when he tries to leave the group the ultimate test of his challenge, and a portal to his next stage of selfdevelopment.