Entry 01 -Aneesh Raikundalia
Some filmmakers arrive once. Others return.
Aneesh Raikundalia is one of the few creatives whose work has moved with Mini Movie Marathon across volumes — not as repetition, but as evolution. From Panda in Vol. 3 to Thief Story III: Super Chor & Koko and the Kolas in Vol. 4, his films trace a practice rooted in patience, curiosity, and a deep love for cinematic language.
This entry marks the first Journal feature of 2026, and it begins with someone who has quietly grown alongside the space.
A filmmaker shaped by genre and play
Raised in Nairobi and influenced early by classic Hindi cinema and old-school Westerns, Aneesh’s relationship with film was formed through watching — and rewatching. What stands out in his work is a comfort with genre, not as constraint, but as playground.
Panda, a stop-motion noir that screened in MMM Vol. 3, introduces Detective Gummyshoe — a red panda navigating a shadowy city of crime, ambition, and moral ambiguity. The film blends chiaroscuro lighting, expressionist influences, and a deliberately absurd visual logic that feels both studied and personal.
It is a film that understands noir deeply enough to bend it.
Behind-the-scenes photo from the set of PANDA
Returning with Super Chor
When Thief Story III: Super Chor screened in Vol. 4, it arrived as something lighter, faster, and knowingly chaotic.
Clocking in at just over two minutes, the film follows a crafty thief, two super cops, and a Christmas gone off the rails. Inspired by 80s Hong Kong action cinema and Jackie Chan-era physical comedy, Super Chor embraces movement, timing, and humor — right down to its end-credit bloopers, which Aneesh cites as the moment he’s most excited for audiences to see.
Despite the tonal shift from Panda, the throughline remains clear: an affection for cinema as craft, rhythm, and joy.
A shot from Thief Story III: Super Chor
Process, persistence, and finishing the work
Aneesh is open about the long arcs behind his films. Panda took over two years to complete, shaped by pauses, resource limitations, and the challenge of staying engaged through a slow stop-motion process.
What carried him through was perseverance — and the act of finishing.
That act, he says, mattered as much as the film itself. Completing projects became a way of claiming the identity of filmmaker, not just in intention, but in practice.
This attention to process is what makes his return to MMM feel earned rather than coincidental.
Looking forward
Following Super Chor, Aneesh is currently working on a stop-motion short titled 24fps of Le Mans, while developing ideas for a micro-budget children’s series and a stop-motion black comedy inspired by Macbeth.
His work continues to sit at the intersection of homage and experimentation — informed by cinema history, but shaped by the realities of making with what’s available.
Aneesh Raikundalia’s films screened at Mini Movie Marathon Vol. 3 and Vol. 4.
His journey with MMM reflects what the Journal hopes to hold space for: artists who return, evolve, and keep making — not for momentum, but for meaning.
