India, Aug. 10 -- Within the span of 20 minutes, Shashwat Dwivedi's short film Bobby Beauty Parlour establishes a stirring tale between two female friends. It follows childhood best friends Eelu and Manu, who spend their last hours together inside a neighborhood beauty parlour, awaiting a new chapter in their lives. It is a bittersweet ode to small-town aspirations and friendships packed in a coming-of-age story.

In an exclusive chat with Hindustan Times, director Shashwat Dwivedi sat down to talk about how the film took shape, and how the unusual pairing of Anurag Kashyap and Imtiaz Ali came together to present it.

Talking about the film, Shashwat begins, "The origin was a bunch of things coming together. My co-writer Janhavi Ashthana,...