How can political gamesmanship — the dog-eat-dog kind that is routine in coalition politics — be a mirror to romantic love? Both are seemingly antithetical to each other. In GAIA, a film written, directed and co-produced by 34-year-old, Delhi-based writer and director Abhay Kapoor, politics and love are in a parasitic coil, revealing not just fantasies of heterosexual men for political power and female subjugation and attention, but how technology irreversibly alters these fantasies.

With a running time of 45 minutes, Kapoor’s taut screenplay, unfolds at the home of a seasoned, ageing politician Vivek Shukla (Atul Tiwari) who heads the ruling government. On a stormy night, Arindam Sehgal (Lakshya Goel), leader of the Labour Party, visits Shukla to negotiate ministries and alliances. Arindam seems to be key in keeping the coalition afloat, but tensions escalate as Arindam’s arch nemesis Maitreyi Sodhi (Preeti Sharma) unexpectedly arrives. As the night progresses, Vivek and Maitreyi start poaching MPs........

© hindustantimes