If you are reading this and feeling FOMO because you weren't in that room on 29/10/2023 , don't despair. While the theatrical event is history, the short film is currently available exclusively on the NeonX platform.

Search for: "NeonX Presents: The Bhab Monologue" (Original release date: October 29, 2023).

However, a word of warning. Watching it on your phone will not replicate the experience. You will not hear the crowd screaming "Bhab Better" at the climax. You will not see the tears. But you will understand why 1,200 strangers paid money to sit in a dark room and watch a 22-minute miracle.

Neon X follows Riya (played by Aisha Verma), a 23‑year‑old freelance graphic designer who works late nights in a 24‑hour cyber‑café called “Neon X.” When the café’s neon signage flickers for the first time in months, it triggers a series of subtle, uncanny events that force Riya—and the other night‑owls—to confront the digital ghosts of their past relationships and the offline world they’ve been avoiding.

The short is built around three visual motifs:

In under ten minutes, the film moves from a kinetic montage of scrolling feeds to a quiet, almost lyrical climax where the neon sign finally steadies, hinting at a tentative reconnection between the characters.

| Element | Detail | |--------|--------| | Creator(s) | Rohan Mehta (writer‑director) – a film‑theatre graduate from FTII Pune; Sanjay Patel (producer) – co‑founder of the micro‑production house Neon Studios. | | Inception | The concept first appeared as a 10‑minute pitch for the 2022 IIFA Short Film Lab. Rohan’s script, titled “Neon X – The Last Light”, won the Lab’s Best Concept award, earning a modest grant and mentorship from veteran editor Amitabh Sinha. | | Funding | A hybrid model: INR 4 lakh from the IIFA Lab, plus a crowdfunding drive on Ketto that raised an additional INR 1.5 lakh from 312 backers, many of whom were students and indie‑film fans. | | Goal | To explore the clash between digital hyper‑connectivity and human intimacy through a compact, visual‑driven story set in a neon‑lit cyber‑café. |