Exchange Offer ★★★★

A retired school principal accepts an exchange offer of his old personal computer, bringing several other changes as well.

Synopsis

Shiv Kumar Pant is a retired school principal living a lonely life in Delhi. He has lost his wife, while the son lives in California. Shiv is a loner by design, and he rebuffs any attempt of socialization. Consequently, he has very little contact with his relatives except his son. Moreover, Shiv is unappreciative of any changes in life!

However, destiny has other plans! One fine day, Shiv’s 16-year old computer breaks down. During these sixteen long years, technologies have changed a lot and the repair is not possible. As a result, Shiv agrees for the replacement with a newer computer. Only if he knew what other changes will this single exchange will bring…

What works

The character development of the central character is among the best we have seen in recent times. The director has not rushed through scenes. Ample time and space is given to the character of Shiv Kumar Pant to grow. Every feature of the character is brought out delicately. We connected with Raina as Shiv as a strict disciplinarian, a lonely widower and a hobbyist.

Even the non-central characters of son and house-help are developed well. We get to know about Bisveswar by his comic ranting. Facial expressions of Aryan in role of helpless son deserve an appreciation.

Story is very well-thought, accompanied by a very effective screenplay and editing. The film picks up finer facets in the lives of the characters and deliver them very beautifully, one at a time. All the messages, including the central message which is displayed at the end of the short film is delivered at a perfect pace.

What could have been better

Call me a fault-finder, but ‘Amit’ feels schemed and artificial in many scenes. It may be director’s hint to the climax, but we feel otherwise. In our opinion, Taher could have done a much better ‘Amit’.

Another minor drawback is the last scene of the film. Except for the climatic end, the whole movie is very realistic. A simple climax would have seemed logically and aesthetically ordered. Instead we get a larger-than-life climax focusing on just two characters. That was out-of-sync to us.

Verdict

Exchange Offer is almost a masterpiece. Even with its few passable nuisances, it is a very good short.

AglaPlay Verdict: Do watch!
AglaPlay Rating: 4.0/5
Language: Hindi
Duration: ~29 minutes
Writer: Saunak Mitra
Director:  Saunak Mitra
Cast: M K Raina (Shiv Pant),
Taher Shabbir (Amit Kulkarni),
Surendra Ranjan (Bisveswar),
Aryan Roy(Rishabh Pant) &
Others
Exchange Offer: A very good one