The search for a soulmate gets a literal spin in Abir Sengupta’s short film Soulmate, out on Eros Now. Adah Sharma plays a girl struggling to find the perfect match. Her split, or soul — also played by Adah — joins her on these dates, wryly rejecting men who fail to sense her presence. Until, one day, magic happens.

“We can’t always have a checklist to date or marry someone,” says Adah. “We are constantly evolving and changing as people. What matters, then, is to find that initial click and take a leap of faith.”

This is the first time Adah has attempted a double role. Besides the prompt costume changes, she had to mind the technicalities of doubling up on screen. The ‘switch’, as instructed by her director, had to be a subtle but effective one. “Since I’m playing the same person after all, it couldn’t look very obvious. It was a thin line I hope I’ve managed to walk.”

Abir says he had read an interview of Adah’s where she had spoken about her love of fairytales. Promptly, he sent her the script of Soulmate and got back a response. “It was so instinctive the way things panned out,” the director recalls. “I had just finished a script and here was an actor talking about how she believes in finding a soulmate. The idea of the double role, too, emerged out of a conversation I had with her.”

Abir had directed the 2015 Bengali romantic-comedy, Jomer Raja Dilo Bor. His upcoming film, Indoo Ki Jawani, is up for release later this year. It stars Kiara Advani as a girl seeking true love on a dating app. He has also finished another film with Adah, titled Man to Man. A romantic comedy, it follows a boy (Naveen Kasturia) who gets married only to discover that his wife is a man. 

“That’s another challenging role in a really quirky space. I feel fortunate to get offered such different and unique parts,” says Adah, who also has the Telugu film ? and Commando 4 on the cards.