MUMBAI MIRROR (March 7, 2016)

"You know I can't give you names,“ says Shailendra Singh. He may not be talking, but his short film just might say it all. Sexoholic is the second short film released under Shailendra Singh's banner ­ Long Story Short Films. The film has generated a mindblowing 2,000,000++ views in the first 100 hours since release, and sparked passionate discussions in the comment section.

The story revolves around Rhea Malhotra, a Mumbai Suburban housewife, played by the talented Shama Sikander, star of Yeh Meri Life Hai. Many fans online are praising Shama's intense performance and commenting that “she looks like Priyanka Chopra!!“ While her husband ­ played by debut actor Vishal Kharwal is frequently traveling on work, Rhea embarks upon a reluctant journey of sexual self-discovery. When her husband finds out, her private adventure becomes a very public disaster. The film is both written and directed by Shailendra Singh.

“Yes, it's true,“ admits Shailendra. “The film is inspired by a story I heard from a friend of a friend, about a certain woman about town. I was intrigued when I heard it. It's so typical in our society that a man who sleeps around is honoured as a 'stud', but a woman who does the exact same thing, is called 'slut', and other names I can't repeat here. Even though 70% of actual, diagnosed sex addicts are men.“

Through Long Story Short Films, Shailendra is on a mission to get the new, young India talking. He points to the 600 million under the age of 25, and that India has the world's most mobile phones, to explain why he has shifted from Producing over 72 feature films in Bollywood, to writing and directing short format cinema.

“No one has the time anymore,“ he says. “Everyone is always running to be late somewhere. But always with a phone in their hand. I'm making short, smart cinema to entertain, but also to get people talking. 1.3 billion people ­ we are certainly having sex, we just don't talk about it. Sexoholic should raise some very interesting questions, and I can't wait to see the discussions that happen on social media.“