Life experiences are often the truest source of inspiration. Oscar-nominated director Shaunak Sen turned to them as he attempted his first fiction short film, Termite. The short, which premièred at the ongoing Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2026, is an intimate story about companionship between two men and the anxieties that emerge when a familiar life begins to change with the 
possibility of marriage.

Termite’s idea came to Sen at an unexpected time — after being diagnosed with kidney cancer, he underwent partial nephrectomy and was on the road to recovery. The director recalled, “In the middle of this, producer Dimpy Agrawal and the Azim Premji Foundation came to me with the offer of making a short film. A week before my cancer diagnosis, my closest friend and business partner got married, and a week after, another close friend got married. That made me think of fragile emotions where you want the best for your friend, [but you also have] the angst that your life will change. So, I found the theme of urban male loneliness and the fragile nature of friendships.”