“Kaam karne ke teen tareeke hote hain – seedha, tedha, ulta. Jab aap seedha kaam karna nahi chahte aur tedha aap karke dekh chuke hain, to bachta hai ek – ulta.” Written and directed by Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad, Rareview follows the story of three people trying to fix the rear-view mirror of a friend’s car. Arjun, Sood, and Kunal want to make an entrance to a party. However, they cannot do so in the two-wheeler that they own. Therefore, they decide to borrow a car from their friend’s father. Needless to say, the loan comes with a warning – they have to return the car without a scratch. Murphy’s Law states that, ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong’. These three friends find themselves in a similar fix when they meet with a small accident and lose the rear-view mirror of the car. In dire need of assistance, they employ Ranjit, an automobile fixer’s help. Upon discovering that Ranjit himself cannot help them, the four of them then decide to steal it from someone else’s car. In a predictable ending, they manage to return the car unscratched only to find that they were not the ones responsible for losing the rear-view mirror in the first place. Navdeep Maggu as Sood manages to get a few laughs with his hilarious portrayal of a friend who says the wrong things at exactly the wrong time. Dewang Mulani as Kunal and Kshitij Mervin as Arjun make their presence felt on the screen. However, the real show stealer is Shivam Pradhan, portraying the character of Ranjit. He leaves the audience gasping with laughter with his to-the-point acting and witty retorts. Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad, alumni of Shunya, the theatre society of Ramjas College, do a surprisingly good job in their first production. The initial few scenes are not fully refined and the transitions between the scenes seem abrupt, but the film quickly picks up the pace. The director’s vision to contrast the scenes of simply whiling away time with the intense scenes of the three friends who have met with an accident fail to come across exactly as they are meant to, perhaps due to amateur editing. The direction could undoubtedly be better but considering the tools and the low cost of production, the audience cannot help but appreciate the film. Without a shadow of doubt, the directors in their first venture as amateur filmmakers leave a mark behind. The one thing I found myself appreciating during this thirty-minute film is its background score which throughout provided the intensity that the scene requires. The fact that Shobhit Bhatia and Arbab Ahmad have tried to get the technical aspects of film-making right is evident while watching the film. It is extremely difficult to get a thirty-minute film made at this level and without any resources. However, one does not realise these hardships because the end result is beautiful. For anyone wishing to spend half an hour laughing with their friends, this short film is a must watch! Check out the trailer to the film here. Feature Image Credits: Anukriti Mishra Anukriti Mishra [email protected]]]>