Samay, an easygoing IT technician in Ahmedabad, falls for news anchor Seema just as she crosses paths with a reclusive scientist experimenting on a portable wormhole. When a masked gunman kills Seema outside her office, Samay wakes to find himself reliving the same day on an endless loop under a sky lit by an impossible aurora. To save her and stop the experiment, he has to decode the loop before the day resets on him forever.
Short Circuit carries a badge no other Dhollywood film had worn before it: Gujarat's first science fiction feature, built on a time loop and a reported 1,132 VFX shots. Samay is an ordinary IT technician who falls for the news anchor Seema, then watches a masked gunman kill her outside her office. From the next morning he starts reliving the same day, and the only way out runs through a reclusive scientist's wormhole experiment. Director Faisal Hashmi, working on his second film, treats the premise seriously rather than as a novelty, and the ambition shows on screen.
The Times of India gave it three and a half stars, crediting the production house and Hashmi for attempting the genre at all and praising the VFX, the grand set and the editing, while flagging the story as predictable. Divya Bhaskar and the critic Jayesh Adhyaru both landed at three, noting the film openly credits the 1993 Hollywood loop movie 12:01 as inspiration. Smit Pandya, as the friend Bhopo, quietly walks off with the first half, a turn strong enough to win him Best Supporting Actor at GIFA 2019, and editor Prabaahar took the same year's IGFF prize.
The seams are real. Reviewers agreed the second half feels rushed and the climax stays smaller than the setup promises, a budget ceiling the film cannot fully hide, and the plot lands roughly where a loop veteran expects. What lingers is the nerve of it. For a regional industry built on comedy and family drama, a homegrown sci-fi thriller with clean visuals and a working script was a genuine step forward, and it earns its place as a milestone more than a masterpiece.
Verdict
A landmark first swing at Gujarati sci-fi that clears its budget on ambition and craft, even if the loop holds few real surprises.
What works
- Gujarat's first homegrown sci-fi feature
- Clean, ambitious VFX for its budget
- Smit Pandya's award-winning supporting turn
- Tight editing that keeps the loop moving
What holds it back
- Second half feels rushed
- Climax smaller than the premise deserves
- Predictable for anyone who knows time-loop films
- Budget limits show in the finale
Cast & crew
Writers: Faisal Hashmi, Bhargav Purohit, Mohsin Chavada
Music: Mehul Surti
Cast: Dhvanit Thaker (Samay), Kinjal Rajpriya (Seema), Smit Pandya (Bhopo), Utkarsh Mazumdar (Dr. Parth Sarthi), Ragi Jani (Raju Don), Vikee Shah (Jacob)
Producers: Twilight Productions
Watch the trailer
Play the official trailer on YouTubeMore from Faisal Hashmi
More Science Fiction Gujarati films
Frequently asked
Is Short Circuit worth watching?
A landmark first swing at Gujarati sci-fi that clears its budget on ambition and craft, even if the loop holds few real surprises. Kevu Che rates it 3.5 out of 5.
What is Short Circuit about?
Samay, an easygoing IT technician in Ahmedabad, falls for news anchor Seema just as she crosses paths with a reclusive scientist experimenting on a portable wormhole. When a masked gunman kills Seema outside her office, Samay wakes to find himself reliving the same day on an endless loop under a sky lit by an impossible aurora. To save her and stop the experiment, he has to decode the loop before the day resets on him forever.
What is the IMDb rating of Short Circuit?
Short Circuit (2019) holds an IMDb rating of 7.9 out of 10.