There is a peculiar kind of silence that settles over a Telugu household when a B.Tech graduate has nothing to do. It is not the peaceful quiet of a Sunday afternoon. It is the loud, accusing silence of a father who has run out of patience and a mother who keeps refilling your coffee cup anyway. Director Soumith Yeruva takes that very silence and turns it into something strange, funny, and unexpectedly moving in his debut short film, "Soumith in LIFE", which arrived in theatres on September 11, 2026, and runs a tight nineteen minutes.
The premise could not be simpler. A young man, played by Yeruva himself, sits at home waiting for a job that never calls back. The days blur. Then an ordinary argument with his father - the kind of squabble over ambition and responsibility that plays out in countless middle-class homes - swerves somewhere nobody expects. What follows folds humour, family drama, and a gentle thread of fantasy into one compact narrative about a son who simply cannot get out of his own way.
Yeruva wears three hats here: director, writer, and lead actor. It is a gamble that could have collapsed under its own weight, but the film's confidence suggests a filmmaker who understands exactly how much he can carry. As the son, he underplays the frustration rather than announcing it. Rakesh Vaddi, as the father, brings the weary authority of a man who has said the same thing too many times. Divya Alluri rounds out the household as the mother, the quiet negotiator holding the family's centre together.
Then there is the wrinkle that has been generating chatter since release: Sampath Potta appearing as Lord Shiva. It is the sort of creative decision that sounds absurd on paper and, according to early viewers, lands with surprising grace on screen. The fantasy element never overwhelms the domestic realism; instead, it works as a kind of spiritual punctuation, arriving precisely when the story needs a jolt. Jagadiswar Neel and Sreevanth Konatham fill out the friend roles, providing the film's lighter, looser beats.
What is striking about "Soumith in LIFE" is its restraint. Nineteen minutes is not much room, and the temptation for a first-time filmmaker is to cram every idea into the frame. Yeruva resists that. The comedy is observational rather than broad. The emotional beats are earned rather than forced. And the alter-ego device - hinted at in the film's own synopsis - gives the narrative a quiet philosophical undertow, suggesting that the person we argue with most fiercely is often ourselves.
For Tollywood, the short film format remains an intriguing side lane. It offers newcomers a chance to prove themselves without the machinery of a full production, and it gives audiences something bite-sized between the bigger releases. "Soumith in LIFE" fits neatly into that space. It is not trying to be a blockbuster. It is trying to be honest about a very specific, very relatable phase of young adulthood - the limbo between a degree and a direction.
The film's TMDb rating currently sits at 0/10, which reflects nothing more than the absence of aggregated votes for a title this new and this small. Ratings take time to accumulate, and for a short film just days into its run, the number is essentially a placeholder. What matters more is the word of mouth, and on that front, the film is finding its audience among viewers who recognise the kitchen-table dynamics it depicts.
Yeruva's decision to anchor the story in his own name and his own performance gives the project a personal, almost diaristic quality. Whether that was born of necessity or artistic intent, it works. There is an authenticity to the film's rhythm - the long, aimless hours, the sudden flare of a family fight, the strange calm that follows - that a more polished production might have smoothed away.
"Soumith in LIFE" is not a film that shouts. It is a film that sits with you, a little like that B.Tech graduate on the sofa, wondering what comes next. For a debut effort, that is a promising place to start. Tollywood should keep an eye on Soumith Yeruva. He clearly has more to say, and on this evidence, he knows how to say it.
