An upcoming film, Unpaused, is an anthology of five Hindi short films filmed during the pandemic. To release on Amazon Prime Video on December 18, the film’s trailer unveiled recently. Glitch, directed by Raj & DK (The Family Man), stars Gulshan Deviah (Afsos) and Saiyami Kher (Breathe: Into the Shadows). The story is about a hypochondriac man, who meets a delightfully strange girl on a blind date and how it turns out to be far more meaningful than he anticipated. “We are excited about exploring a new genre,” says Raj, as DK adds, “Creating The Family Man was a liberating experience for us as content creators. And the assurance of thinking unconstrained encouraged us to extend our collaboration with Glitch. We loved making the short, as we tried a new style and genre. It was a bizarrely unique experience shooting it during the pandemic, and with all kinds of restrictions. We hope the audience will appreciate this new effort.”
Another story, Apartment, directed by Nikkhil Advani (D-Day), stars Richa Chadha (Inside Edge), Sumeet Vyas (Wakaalat From Home) and Ishwak Singh (Paatal Lok). It’s the story of the owner of a successful online news magazine, who learns of her husband’s sexual indiscretions and is shocked. Hopeless, she spirals into a dark maze of self-blame and attempts to end her own life. Enter, a ray of hope in the guise of a pesky intruder and through their interactions, she finds the inner strength to face her unpleasant situation and move on. “Being a part of Unpaused was a no-brainer. Not only was it an opportunity to be part of this wonderful ensemble of storytellers, but it also personally allowed me to explore complex emotions in a simple way, one that the traditional format would never have permitted me to do,” says Nikkhil Advani.
Rat – A – Tat, featuring Rinku Rajguru (Sairat), and Lillete Dubey has been directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee (Parched). “In such unprecedented times, new beginnings are the only hope for many across the world. It’s inspiring to join creative forces with 4 incredibly talented directors, the writers Devika Bhagat and Ishita Moitra, producer Rangita Nandy and the actors to bring alive one such story out of many stories of these really special times. Shot under lockdown rules it was both exciting and challenging to bring the story alive. I hope the viewers relate and connect with it the way we connected and felt while making it,” says Tannishtha Chatterjee. Rat – A – Tat is about two women, four decades apart — one who chose to be alone and the other who is alone because of circumstances. They confront loneliness and form an unlikely friendship during the lockdown, which brings them hope and a new beginning.
Vishaanu, directed by Avinash Arun (Paatal Lok), stars Abhishek Banerjee (Paatal Lok) and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (Thappad). “It has been an introspective journey for all of us, as we seek to convey these messages through this film. It has also challenged us to drum up innovative ways of telling a story, keeping in mind safety and health protocols, that are the need of the hour,” says Avinash Arun. The story is based around the lockdown, when a young migrant family, after being thrown out of their rented house for not being able to pay the rent, decides to illegally sneak into a lavish sample flat that is in the same building in which they were working as construction workers. This time, for them, is a dream lived for a momentary period as well as a curse to cope up with their stark reality.
Directed by Nitya Mehra (Made in Heaven), Chaand Mubarak stars Ratna Pathak Shah (Thappad) and Shardul Bharadwaj (Bhonsle). The story is of an affluent middle-aged single woman, who is forced to seek help of a young rickshaw driver to run some errands during Mumbai’s lockdown. The woman is stubborn and class conscious and resents the driver’s orthodox views on women. As these two strangers from opposite sides of the track spend three days together, they slowly start peeling away their defenses and form an unlikely friendship based on newfound respect and understanding, realizing they aren’t so different after all. Talking about the project, Nitya Mehra says, “It felt great to be back on set and back on shoot after months of being indoors. I was happy that Amazon said it wasn’t just about lockdown, but it was about them wanting us to tell stories that reflected positivity and that’s how Chand Mubarak came about, because I wanted to actually celebrate an unlikely friendship.”
Ms. Soumya Vajpayee
Senior Entertainment & Lifestyle Journalist
