A Short Film Explores the Emotional Cost of Artistic Pursuit Through Pony Verma’s SUR

Directed by Abhay Chopra, SUR follows a struggling singer in Mumbai as he confronts family pressure, livelihood realities, and the pull of artistic identity.

Mumbai, India: Stories of artists are often told through moments of recognition and applause. A new short film shifts attention instead to the quieter emotional terrain that exists long before success or acceptance arrives.
SUR, presented by Pony Verma, is an intimate portrayal of an artist whose relationship with music is rooted not in ambition, but in survival. The film is produced by Mango Curry Films Private Limited in association with Kings of Bollywood and WonKru. It is directed by Abhay Chopra and produced by Shamshad Khan, Nilesh Nanaware, and Shivam Gupta.

Set within the everyday realities of Mumbai’s chawls and local trains, the narrative follows Sandeep, a struggling singer navigating the tension between personal calling and social expectation. He lives with his father, once a committed painter, now partially blind and weighed down by years of unfulfilled promise. Their shared household becomes a space where artistic aspiration and economic anxiety collide.
As pressure mounts for Sandeep to abandon music and focus on earning a stable income, the emotional strain between father and son deepens. His father’s frustration culminates in forbidding him from practising music and selling his harmonium, an act that leaves Sandeep isolated and questioning his worth. The film unfolds through restraint rather than confrontation, examining dignity, endurance, and the fragile moments that keep creativity alive.

The performances by Dibyendu Bhattacharya and Roshann Rajesh Chauhan are marked by realism and emotional control, reflecting lives shaped by compromise and unspoken disappointment. SUR avoids romanticising artistic struggle, instead asking whether creative expression can ever truly be separated from identity.
Speaking about her association with the film, Pony Verma said the story resonated with her personal experiences in the creative world. She shared that the film reflects the discipline, vulnerability, and emotional honesty that exist beyond performance, and mirrors the journeys of many artists who remain committed to their craft without certainty of recognition.

Director Abhay Chopra described the film as emerging from lived spaces such as Mumbai’s local trains, crowded homes, and repeated auditions that rarely offer closure. He said the story is not about success, but about endurance, and about how a single moment of validation can sustain an artist through years of struggle.
At its core, SUR presents two artists separated by time but bound by shared disappointment. In its closing moments, the film leaves behind a simple truth that art does not disappear. It waits, carried quietly, until it is allowed to be heard.

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