Budding actor Mrinal Dutt plays the lead in Aarti Kadav's new short film, 55km/sec. Kadav won wide directing the OTT-released film Cargo last year.

Mrinal says 55km/sec was shot virtually during lockdown.

"We shot Arati's film from home and she was very prompt about writing the story. We also had locations nearby, around which we could weave the story. This was more independent and absolutely experimental. It was quite an experience, with Arati and (director of photography) Nachiket joining us on video calls while we had to do everything on our own," recalled Mrinal.

The actor has also finished the shoot for a new web series even before the release of his upcoming film 55km/sec. While the details of that project are under wraps, he mentioned he lived in a hotel for almost two months and shot for the web show from there at a stretch. He likes to call it a "bio-bubble", with everyone in one place.