The college love story on Insta

Khushi Kotharis short is about a couple, who have to go to different universities

The lockdown has helped many of us catch up on our share of movies and shows, but not everyone gets inspired to make a film of their own. Khushi Kothari, 18, decided that she wouldn-t just binge. The first-year movie film and new media student from Juhu-s UPG College, has made her first short film, a four-minute-forty-second love tale simply called Quarantine Love Story. "Everyone has been in a relationship, and everybody has experienced a break up, so I was keen to explore that emotion. It-s also a subject everyone will relate to."

Her story, shot using the split screen technique, is about a couple that gets admission in different colleges and has to move away. "They are two people who find comfort in each other. They have a conflict when they need to go to different colleges, but they don-t let each other go."

What-s interesting is the glimpse the film offers into the mind of the millennial, and it has to do with the unique way in which the story is shot. It-s chic, offering a cutting edge look to what could have just remained a college project. "I had to prep a month prior to get a hang of the technology. I sent my actors, Saundarya Goyal and Aaryan Deshpande, a full-fledged storyboard and demo shots. They shot it on their phones so I had to tell them how to mark centre on the screen, and how to be on the right side.

Khushi Kothari

We did a lot of test videos, and then after the whole shoot, they sent me the files, and I took on the editing. It was hard, but so worth it," she beams.

The video, which has seen a couple of thousand views, has made Kothari realise she is on the right path. The daughter of Gujarati film producers says she is now in the thick of filmmaking. "Be it acting, directing or writing, I know that this is the field I want to spend my life in. I am learning by trial and error. I have got so many reactions for this film. I think it-s because love is universal, and life is about ups and downs [that viewers identified with it]. I like that thought - despite the challenges, you shouldn-t let go."

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