I grew up as a third culture kid in both India and the US.
This storyline really resonated with me. When I was a kid playing with my action figures, I'd envision scenarios where the heroes of Indian mythology like Hanuman, Bheema, and so on would team up with Batman, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, etc.
Sanjay has a culturally-syncretic experience like that in this short.
And that's what most people took away from this.
BUT THAT'S ONLY SURFACE LEVEL. IT'S SO MUCH MORE.
When I re-watched this I noticed there was so much interesting imagery.
On the side of the room over the television set was a map of America, where Sanjay finds his Western heroes.
Over the small shrine on the other side is a map of India, where his Dad has his own heroes, his Gods.
The way the reflection of the lamp and flame on the floor looks like a bell represents the way light cuts through the darkness, the way sound cuts through the silence.
Speaking of the darkness, the shapeshifter initially takes on the form of a rakshasa, a demon that represents the worst of human self-destructive behaviors, but after the sound of the bell subdues it (created by smashing his idol, the action figure), the form looks human again, with palms together, meaning the darkness we must subdue is our own.
Another point about of light subduing the dark is at the end when Sanjay opens the blinds on the dark room, and also when his father and him meet in the middle.
Tangentially--
I was surprised Mychael Danna did the score, because I was most familiar with his work in Boondock Saints. But then I realized he also scored Monsoon Wedding and Life Of Pi, and then I was like "Oh, that makes sense."
P.S.
The negative reviews here from bigots... shame on you.
I think it's very telling about how small-minded you are, that you react to something foreign, that you don't understand, with so much fear, and no willingness or desire for knowledge or understanding.
I'm an atheist, and even I understood the beautiful message in this film.
