First Ride (Short Film)

English: First Ride
Kannada: ಫಸ್ಟ್ ರೈಡ್
Director: PD Sathish Chandra
Writer: PD Sathish Chandra
Year: 2026
Genre: Film
Synopsis: An exhausted cab driver cycles through multiple deadly scenarios of how to react, ultimately realizing that the only way to survive is to ignore greed and ego to save a hidden soul.
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6WfO5_cwFA

1. First Ride?
2. Crew
3. Cast
4. Music
5. Director's Note
6. AD Auditions

Navigating the unpredictable monsoon evenings of Bengaluru, Prakasam has dedicated every rainy season since 2001 to developing new creative works behind the scenes. For our 2026 silver jubilee, we elevated this tradition by producing an original short film. Entirely written, directed, shot, and performed by our own in-house talent, it is the perfect celebration of our twenty-five-year artistic journey.

First Ride (Language: Kannada with English Subs, Runtime: 19.26, Genre: SciFi)

ರಕ್ತಸಿಕ್ತ ಶೂಟೌಟ್ ಮತ್ತು ಕಂತೆ ಕಂತೆ ಹಣದ ನಡುವೆ ಸಿಲುಕುವ ಕ್ಯಾಬ್ ಡ್ರೈವರ್ ಮಾಡುವ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ನಿರ್ಧಾರಗಳೂ ಸಾವಿನಲ್ಲೇ ಅಂತ್ಯ. ತಪ್ಪಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲಾಗದ ಈ ಸಾವಿನ ಸುಳಿಯಿಂದ ಪಾರಾಗಲು, ಆತ ಕಣ್ಣೆದುರಿರುವ ಸತ್ಯವನ್ನೇ ನಿರ್ಲಕ್ಷಿಸಿ, ಕತ್ತಲಲ್ಲಿ ಅಡಗಿರುವ ಆ ಒಂದು 'ರಹಸ್ಯ'ವನ್ನು ಪತ್ತೆಹಚ್ಚಲೇಬೇಕು..

After witnessing a violent early-morning shootout over a bag of cartel cash, an exhausted cab driver cycles through multiple deadly scenarios of how to react, ultimately realizing that the only way to survive is to ignore greed and ego to save a hidden soul.

Click Here for BTS Photos

CREW

Written & Directed by PD Sathish Chandra

DOPs: Vijaykumar Pandavapura, Guru TalkEase & Amogh Girish Vanahalli

Master Edit: Arvind Kuplikar

Edit, Post Production & Studios: Skill Pursuit Studio

Camera & Unit: Chetan Kumar & Vijaykumar Pandavapura

Direction Team Interns: Sanskar R G & Prasannarao Kulkarni

Acknowledgements

Balaji Manohar as Voice of Bengaluru

Vijay Siddavanahalli for Food Sponsorship

Dr. Dayaprasad Kulkarni for Hospital Location

Chandan Shankar, Arati Mahuli & Meghana for Production Support

CAST

Cab Driver: Santosh Karki

Helmeted Man: Parthasarathy Raju

Don's Son: Chetan Kumar

Don: Rohith Devatha

Don's Assistant: Guru TalkEase

Inspector: Aditya Hegde

Constable: Amogh Girish Vanahalli

Onlooker1: Vishwamurthy Havaldar

Onlooker2: Sanskar R G

Onlooker3: Keerthi Prakash Chandra

Onlooker4: Prasannarao Kulkarni

Onlooker5: PD Sathish Chandra

Child: Surendra Karki

News reader 1: Latha Prasad

News reader 2: Shambhavi Ranganath

Influencer 1: Shreehari Kashyap

Influencer 2: VG Vinod

Doctor: Pooja Rao

Attender: Dr. Dayaprasad Kulkarni

Officer 1: Ashwin Lakshminarayan

Officer 2: Nikhil Parthasarathy

Film Summary:

At 6:09 AM on a rain-slicked Bengaluru road, veteran cab driver awakens to a violent shootout. Before him lie wounded men, discarded weapons, and a coveted bag of cash. Forced into a split-second dilemma, his mind races through what to do next. He imagines stealing the money, relying on cops, rescuing the wounded, seeking viral fame, playing detective, and other scenarios. Driven by greed, fear, or ego, and not by conscience his decisions starts deceiving him. The deceptions hides a obsessive message directing him to do what none of us would have intended. Would this decision stop the deception? Will he live to tell the tale? Will he be the hero or the villain of the story? First Ride is here to answer all these questions.

The Music we have used in the movie from YouTube Studio...

* Conspiracy Theory – Rod Kim

* Deified – The Grey Room (Density & Time)

* Reviver – The Grey Room (Density & Time)

* The Mumbai Beat – Hanu Dixit

* Cyberpunk Fury – Jimena Contreras

* Drum Or Bass – Ryan Stasik

* Berliner – Jeremy Black

* In a Heartbeat – Kevin MacLeod

* Duty Calls – Rod Kim

* Saving the World – Aaron Kenny

* Chariots of War – Aakash Gandhi

* Raag Pahadi – Sandeep Das, Mayank Raina, Bivakar Chaudhuri

* Raag Hamsadhwani – Sandeep Das, Mayank Raina, Bivakar Chaudhuri

* Ego Chall - Blue Deer Studio

Director's Note - P. D. Sathish Chandra

First Ride began with a simple question: If we were given the chance to make a different choice, would we actually choose differently?

The film follows an exhausted cab driver who finds himself at the centre of a violent shootout involving a bag of cartel cash. What follows is not simply a chase or a survival thriller, but a journey through the consequences of choice. Each decision he makes leads him closer to death, forcing him to confront something far more dangerous than the people chasing him—his own greed, fear and ego.

I wanted to use the language of tried and tested science fiction and fantasy of time-loop to explore something deeply human: the possibility that time, fate and choice may be connected in ways we cannot understand. The repeated scenarios in First Ride are therefore not just alternate versions of events; they become a psychological and metaphysical space where the protagonist is forced to learn what he cannot see in the obvious reality around him.

At its heart, the film is about what we choose to value when survival is at stake. Money is visible. Danger is visible. But the most important thing in the story remains hidden. The driver must eventually stop reacting to what is immediately in front of him and look deeper—to discover the truth concealed within the chaos.

I was particularly interested in placing this speculative idea within the very ordinary world of a Bengaluru cab driver. The familiar roads, the early-morning silence, the rain, the traffic, the cab and the everyday struggle for a livelihood provide a grounded reality against which the extraordinary begins to unfold.

With First Ride, I wanted to create a short film that works first as a tense genre experience, but stays with the viewer as a question about choice, consequence, compassion and the unseen lives we encounter every day.

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