Shlok Sharma on six years of Haraamkhor

Shlok Sharma's directorial debut Haraamkhor turns six today. Released in 2017, the darkly comic indie starred Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a schoolteacher who initiates a liaison with a minor student, played by Shweta Tripathi. After premiering at the New York Indian Film Festival in 2015, Haraamkhor had a belated theatrical release in India (it's presently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar). 

Shlok, known for directing short films like Tubelight Ka Chaand and Bombay Mirror, was an assistant of Anurag Kashyap before directing his first feature with Haraamkhor. Co-produced by Guneet Monga, the film was critically acclaimed and even recovered its modest budget. 

"I remember entering one of the cinema halls in Andheri with a bunch of my friends," Shlok recalls about the film's release. "It was my first film and I was prepared for anything that it brought my way from the audience - roses, brickbats, anything. I wasn’t sure what screen it was playing on, when one of my friends opened the door and a blast of laughter came out at us, and we realised it was Haraamkhor playing inside. I will never forget the feeling of seeing a screen full of people laughing together at something that took the sweat and blood of the entire team.”

Shlok's next, Two Sisters and a Husband, was screened at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2022. It's also a drama exploring a taboo relationship.