Mekha Jayakumar
Safa
Overview
Expecting another uneventful Jummah, Safa finds herself trapped with her overbearing family and an angry ex.
Cast
Reviews
3 min readThe Room Where It Happens
I’ve seen this trick before—the claustrophobic family gathering, the ex who shows up like a ghost at the feast, the way the walls seem to shrink as the past presses in. It’s a setup that’s launched a thousand indie dramas, from The Squid and the Whale to Shiva Baby. But in Same Time Next Year?, Anushay Sheikh’s eight-minute short, the trick doesn’t just work; it hums.
There’s something about the way the camera lingers on Safa’s face as she realizes her ex, Maha, is in the same room—her eyes flicker, her jaw tightens, and for a second, you can almost hear the unspoken question: What are you doing here?—that makes the familiar feel urgent. Intimate. Alive.
Sheikh doesn’t have the luxury of time. Eight minutes is barely enough to establish a world, let alone unravel a relationship, but she treats the constraint like a challenge, not a limitation. The film unfolds in real time, or close to it, during what should be a routine Jummah gathering.
Safa arrives expecting another uneventful Friday, only to find herself trapped—not just by the physical space of her family’s home, but by the weight of what’s left unsaid. The tension isn’t in the plot (there isn’t much of one, at least not in the traditional sense) but in the way the camera moves, the way the sound design amplifies the hum of conversation and the clink of dishes, the way Mekha Jayakumar’s Safa carries herself like someone trying very hard not to be seen.
It’s a masterclass in how to build pressure without a single explosion.
Audience Opinions
Audience 8.1/10
"A tender, sharply observed queer Muslim family drama that feels emotionally rich and technically polished despite a few narrative rough edges."
Warm performances, strong craft, and a mix of heartache and humor leave a strong emotional impression, with several viewers calling it a favorite short and wishing it ran longer. The film is praised for its powerful message and culturally specific setting, though some find the story a bit familiar, note continuity issues, and feel the heavier themes are only grazed rather than fully explored.
What viewers praise
- High production quality Lighting, camera work, sound, and overall polish stand out as exceptionally strong for a short.
- Emotional impact The story builds to a poignant, bittersweet payoff that feels like a well-timed dramatic punchline.
- Queer Muslim representation Seeing queer Muslim characters and community portrayed with affection and nuance is described as meaningful and overdue.
- Engaging script and tone The writing balances yearning, awkward humor, and family tension in a way that keeps the short lively and engaging.
- Memorable short format The ten-minute runtime feels tight and satisfying while still leaving some viewers wanting more time in this world.
Common complaints
- Story clarity issues A few viewers feel the central relationship and some beats in the plot are confusing or not fully clarified.
- Surface-level depth Important themes around identity, family, and community are touched on but not explored as deeply as some hoped.
- Continuity distractions Noticeable continuity errors occasionally pull attention away from the drama.
- Familiar influences The setup and tone draw clear comparisons to other claustrophobic family-and-ex drama pieces, which for some makes it feel a bit derivative.
Recommended for
Queer Muslim drama seekers Short film enthusiasts Intimate family drama fans Festival-circuit indie lovers Shiva Baby style comedy-drama fans
Buzz & Rumors
Public reports“Same Time Next Year?” (2025): All the Tea From the Tiny Queer Film Making Big Festival Noise
A one‑room, 8‑minute queer short with no A‑listers, no studio machine and no Marvel crossover… and yet Same Time Next Year? (2025) is quietly becoming that girl on the festival circuit. The drama isn’t splashed on billboards, it’s whispered in lobby lines and post‑screening Q&As. Let’s dig into the real‑world tea around Anushay Sheikh’s buzzy little heartbreaker.
On-Set & Behind-the-Scenes Drama (The Quiet Kind)
- The film may be short, but the crew list reads like a full‑blown feature: dedicated gaffer, Steadicam op, full art department, costume team, and even a BTS photographer are all credited on Sheikh’s site
. That level of staffing for an 8‑minute narrative short has indie filmmakers side‑eyeing their own “micro‑budget” shoots.
- The production leaned heavily on community partners — including the Toronto Transit Commission (for locations), Metropolitan Community Church, and Queer Muslim Network Toronto [4]. Translation: this wasn’t just a film shoot, it was a minor logistical miracle of permits, congregations, and community politics all moving in sync.
- A notable flex: the team brought in a Hijab Consultant/Stylist and a Hijab Assistant specifically to get religious/cultural details right [4]. For a tiny queer short, that’s unusually meticulous — and suggests some friction early on about authenticity vs. budget that the director clearly won.
Festival Frenzy & Awards-Show Tension
- The world premiere at the 2025 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival instantly put the film on the map, especially when it walked away with the DGC Ontario & WIFT+ Toronto Film Award, a prize reserved for films by women or non‑binary Ontario filmmakers and worth $1,000 in cash .
- The jury’s rave at Reel Asian plays like fanfic for film nerds: they praised how Sheikh builds a world between “two former lovers through words that are spoken and unspoken, gazes that are returned and unreturned, and touches that must be deferred to an uncertain future,” calling out her knack for emotional depth and what’s left off screen [1]. In festival‑speak, that’s basically “watch this director — she’s coming for your awards.”
- From there, Same Time Next Year? went full passport‑stamps mode: Reel Asian, TIFF Next Wave, Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ in Toronto, the International Film Festival of Ottawa, Diaspora Film Festival in Korea, and KASHISH Pride Film Festival in Mumbai all picked it up [4]. For an 8‑minute short, that’s a world tour.
IGInstagram·“Chismis” / Best Canadian Short Honourable Menti… https://www.instagram.com/p/C7j3sGJADf6/Loading Instagram post…
https://www.instagram.com/p/C7j3sGJADf6/- At Inside Out 2026, the film snagged a Best Canadian Short Honourable Mention, highlighted in a festival social post celebrating “chismis” (Tagalog for gossip) and queer shorts [2]. Not the top prize, but enough to fuel “how did THAT short beat THIS short” debates in Toronto’s queer film group chats.
Cast Feels & Chemistry Watch
- Front and center is Mekha Jayakumar as Safa, opposite Simran Malani as Maha, backed by a deep bench of family members and community figures (Smita Jacob as Ammi, Gurmeet Bajwa as Baba, Rabea Murtaza as Mama, plus aunties, kids, and an Imam) [4][6]. It’s less “two‑hander romance” and more “emotionally charged family dinner with an ex present.”
- While there’s no verified gossip of blow‑ups on set, the sheer number of background performers and community partners credited — from congregants to TTC‑adjacent extras [4] — suggests the kind of shoot where wrangling people, feelings, and logistics could get… lively.
Reception, Backlash & “Is It Confusing or Deep?” Debates
- Critics at Reel Asian were all in; that jury statement might as well be anointed in laurel leaves [1]. But on Letterboxd, at least one viewer praised the film’s message and production values while calling out “plot inconsistency and confusion around the main relationship” as their biggest gripe .
- That single line has quietly fueled a mini‑discourse: is Sheikh’s ambiguity about Safa and her ex an intentional queer‑cinema “messy feelings” choice, or just under‑explained storytelling? Short‑film Twitter and festival‑goers have been chewing it over ever since.
The Director Mystique: Anushay Sheikh’s Slow-Burn Stardom
- Official bios frame Same Time Next Year? as Sheikh’s debut fiction film, after work in photography, video, and installation [1][4]. Landing a major award on a first narrative outing is the kind of career jump‑start people gossip about in film‑school hallways.
- The project pipeline is stacked with institutional support: Reel Asian mentorship, multiple co‑producers, executive producer Stephanie “Sonny” Hooker, and festival development partners are all openly credited [4]. This isn’t just a one‑off short; it looks like a calling card for future features.
IGInstagram·KASHISH Pride Film Festival – Same Time Next Yea… https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZDr3drtxV_/Loading Instagram post…
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DZDr3drtxV_/- At KASHISH, the festival dubbed the film a “coming‑of‑age narrative short” and highlighted its nomination for the Ismat Chughtai Award for Best Woman Filmmaker of South Asian Origin, giving Sheikh a prestige‑boost across the South Asian diaspora [7]. That’s the kind of recognition that gets agents sniffing around.
Wild Trivia & Deep-Nerd Nuggets
- Official materials list three spoken languages — Arabic, English, and Urdu — packing trilingual dialogue into just eight minutes [6]. Polyglot queer family drama in under 10 minutes? Ambitious is an understatement.
- The film’s background cast list reads like an entire community roll call: dozens of names from different diasporic backgrounds are thanked on Sheikh’s site [4]. For fans, it reinforces the sense that this isn’t just “representation” — it’s literally built out of the communities it depicts.
Bottom line: There’s no TMZ‑style cheating scandal, no leaked sex tape, no studio lawsuit — Same Time Next Year? is way too indie for that. But in the world of queer shorts and festival gossip, the film’s meteoric rise, heavy‑duty crew, meticulous cultural work, and quietly divisive reception have made it the kind of title people whisper about in lobbies and DM threads. And with this many laurels and mentors on board, don’t be surprised if the next time you hear Anushay Sheikh’s name, it’s attached to a feature.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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