SohamDutta
The strange thing is, I got an invite to directly interview via skype and no such pre-recorded video was asked of me. Also, I am an international applicant from India.
One of the reason might be that they are out of slots for skype interviews and they needed to accommodate the remaining candidates. So the pre-recorded interview.
I wouldn't know about that... It would seem a little bit unfair, since it is much more comfortable to talk live to a person than to a recording application that gives you limited time per question. Candidates wouldn't be evaluated under the same circumstances.... I'm assuming you applied in R1 right?
Why do you have limited time? Have they mentioned any limit to the length of the video that you are supposed to send? Yes, I am a Round 1 (November 2) applicant.