55 Km/sec is a love story set on the last day of planet Earth. A cataclysmic event has occurred, life as we knew it is ending, and people have retreated into their shells as they wait for the end of the world. Two large rocks are about to crash into each other and compared to that human life in all its complexity seems so fragile and pointless. Not knowing what’s coming next, people repeat their habits from the before-times, go to the grocery store, pack their bags like they are going somewhere, try to find what shelter and safety they can, say their goodbyes and begin the countdown to the end.
In the last moments before the world’s end, Suraj does something he could never do his entire life. He tells Srishthi he loves her and he closes his eyes and waits. But miraculously, there is a reprieve. Time freezes for them. And there is just enough time for the meet-cute date they never had, they can say the things they never said to each other and be there for each other on the hardest day of their lives.
Shot during the COVID-19 Pandemic lockdown in India using personal cameras and recording equipments, the film now seems like a snapshot of a time when the entire world was facing unfathomable, terrifying events, and people were vulnerable and scared, stoic and lonely. And all of it comes out in this film, in every performance and every shot of an empty city-scape that looks more like the Moon than Mumbai. Technology allowed people to communicate even though they couldn’t meet, and it allowed this strange, quirky, weird and wonderful film to exist.
Cast: Mrinal Dutt, Richa Chadda
Manya Grover, Sandeep Jain, Sankalp Joshi, Roshmin, Kajol, Tanvir Singh Virdi, most of the crew and friends.
Director and Editor: Arati Kadav
Cinematographer: Nachiket Pangare
Sound Designer: Sarit Chatterjee
Song: Sneha Khanwalkar (Dunya lullaby )
VFX: Zenish Mehta
CGI (space): Prakash Mehta
Written By: Zain Matcheswalla and Arati Kadav
Background Score: Shezan Shaikh
Chief AD: Shray Gupta
Direction Team: Muskaan Ghai
Head of Post Production: Akash Banerji
Poster Designer: Ankit Kapoor
Visual Promotions: Warriors Ttouch
Producers: Electric Films - Zain Matcheswalla, Zenish Mehta and Arati Kadav