The Telugu short film Manasanamaha, released in 2020, has officially entered the Guinness World Records in 2022 as the short film with the highest number of awards. The 16-minute-36-seconder has won a total of 513 national and international awards.
Directed by the Hyderabad-based Deepak Reddy, Manasanamaha explores the dynamics of romantic relationships from a man’s point of view. The romantic comedy has actor Viraj Ashwin in the lead role of Surya. Addressing the audience, Surya reflects on his past relationships and the general ‘nature’ of women. He explores how small mistakes lead to the imploding of a relationship, his understanding of what women want from their partner and the intricacies of moving on after a relationship has ended.
Manasanamaha spans three seasons – ‘Chaitra’ (Spring), ‘Varsha’ (Monsoon) and ‘Seeta’ (Winter) — as Surya compares his past relationships with the three seasons. Drishika Chander plays Chaitra, Sri Valli Raghavender is Varsha and Prithvi Sharma is Seeta.
While the short mostly gives us a man’s take on relationships, it ends by drawing our attention to a woman’s side of the story that remains untold.
With a combination of motion graphics and live action, Deepak makes use of flashbacks, rewinds and fourth-wall breaks to give us a peek into Surya’s relationships and psyche. The film’s name – Manasanamaha – translates to ‘salutations to mind’.
It was shot over a span of five days with a budget of $5000. Originally released in Telugu, the film was also dubbed in Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada. The whole short film is available on YouTube.
Manasanamaha gained attention at several film festivals, including the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne, Bengaluru International Short Film Festival and San Francisco Frozen Film Festival. It also qualified to be nominated for an Oscar in the Live-Action Short category.
Even though Manasanamaha did not make it to the Academy Awards this year, it has amassed an impressive 513 awards. On May 20 this year, the Guinness Book of World Records officially recognised Manasanamaha for the ‘Most awards won by a short film’ record.