Tanya (Nikita Vijayvargia) is falling fast for Derek (Bhupendra Jadawat) in writer/director Vikkramm Chandirramani's 13-minute short film Destiny, though unfortunately for Tanya after two dates Derek has decided there's no future for the two. 

After she quickly finds out that Derek has blocked her from the same social media apps where they first met, Tanya plots her revenge with the help of her friend, Richa (Monika Panwar), and before long Tanya is exacting her own little bit of payback in a bit of role reversal from the usual male-centered storyline that we see for this type of film.

Stuck somewhere between the land of rom-com and romantic drama, Destiny is a familiar but mostly effective short film that benefits from the charismatic performances of its leading trio and Chandirramani's not quite expected way of wrapping things up. 

It's never quite clear if Vijayvargia's Tanya is intended to be quite as potentially scary as she comes across, though Destiny really never travels the darker road and yet Bijayvargia's performance has more than a little hint of malice to it that makes you think Chandirramani could have easily turned this film into a psychological horror if the desire had been there. 

As Derek, Bhupendra Jadawat initially fools us into viewing his character through one lens, but by film's end it's abundantly clear that maybe his vibes weren't wrong after all and he definitely ends up the more sympathetic character.

Kartik Katkar's lensing is strong throughout, while Chandirramani's own editing for the film allows revealing moments to linger quite effectively. 

Destiny isn't the most effective or entertaining short you're going to check out this year, but this Hindi language, with English subtitles, film is an effective, entertaining effort from an up-and-coming filmmaker. 

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic