Rays of hope and positivity amidst crisis
The creative brains do not get bogged by any virus or lockdown as they continue to churn out new stories and fresher ideas. They have contributed their mite in adding a dash of positivity to the rather gloomy atmosphere by making good use of the virtual medium to spread positivity, hope, and happiness when the whole world is reeling under the onslaught of Carona Virus. Unpaused is one such attempt made during lockdown facing various limitations which is an anthology of 5 stories streaming on Amazon Prime Video presenting yet another angle of the positivity that fostered better relationships.
Glitch
This Raj and DK presentation from their own production house D2R Films is a story between Ahan (Gulshan Devaiah) and Ayesha (Saiyami Kher) with two different mindsets that are quite eccentric who meet on a date in a bubble but could not take it forward due to their strange preferences, one being hypo and another a warrior. But destiny decides otherwise and one fine day during the lockdown, they realize their shortfalls and get along after better senses started prevailing between them.
The story of Reshu Nath looks novel and the way she developed the character of Ahan who master everything except his inner feelings is aptly portrayed by the director duo Raj & DK. The sign language and tongue in cheek conversations between Mala (Alexa) and Ahan are innovative and remain as highlights of this short story.
Rating: 3.5/5
Apartment
This is an Emmay Entertainment Production produced by Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani, directed by Nikhil Advani. Devika (Richa Chadha) is on the verge of depression after she came to know about the misdeeds of her husband Sahil Khanna (Sumeet Vyas). Her attempts to end life due to depression are foiled by the neighbor Chirag (Ishwaq Singh) who later becomes her savior and guides her in the right direction to come out of relationship blues.
This is not the right kind of story that can bring out the full potential of Nikhil but Apartment managed to drive the message home successfully about the need to get stronger during adverse conditions. It’s Richa who creates greater impact with her presence as well as by her performance in a rather weak and uninteresting plot.
Rating: 2.5/5
Rat-A-Tat
A funny-sounding title from Pritish Nandy Communications produced by Pritish Nandy and Rangita Pritish Nandy is directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee with the story and screenplay by Devika Bhagat. Archana (Lillete Dubey) prefers to live alone after the death of her husband but with the entry of Priyanka (Rinku Rajguru) in the neighborhood, the perception of life gets changed for Archana. Priyanka’s scare of rats brings her closer to Archana who in the beginning despises of the new company. A bond that develops between the two brings back the old and wonderful memories to Archana who now welcomes Priyanka to become a part of her life.
Devika’s story is spot on with the right kind of screenplay which is brilliantly presented by Tannishtha. The scenes like Archana asking Priyanka to make a call to her mother and Archana singing, in the end, reflect the compassion and these vibes are very well captured by Tannishtha. Adding to this, the superlative performances of Dubey and Rajguru add extra sparkle to the whole narrative.
Rating: 3.5/5
Vishaanu
Vishaanu, a Reverie Entertainment Production produced by Sanjeevkumar Nair and Baisakhi Nair and directed by Avinash Arun Dhaware is the story of a migrant worker Manish (Abhishek Banerjee) and his wife Seema (Geetika Vidya Ohlyan). The struggle for survival by this couple during the lockdown and their desperation to go back to their native place is very well articulated by Avinash based on the story by Shubham.
Abhishek Bannerjee is seen in a new role and he has done a commendable job while Geetika has put up a superb performance particularly in the spa and food packets scenes, she is outstanding.
Rating: 3/5
Chand Mubarak
Pranati Nagarsheth and Shahbaz Khan under Pink Window Productions have produced Chand Mubarak which is directed by Nitya Mehra who has also penned the story and screenplay with Vidur Nauriyal and Tarun Dudeja. Two strangers from entirely different faiths, backgrounds, one being older Uma (Ratna Pathak Shah) and another is an auto driver Rafiq (Shardul Bharadwaj) who met under peculiar circumstances but ends up as siblings setting another example of building healthy relationships.
Nitya Mehra strikes the right emotional chord with her true depiction of emotions and empathy. Ratna Pathak has done a remarkable job with yet another excellent performance that made the whole story livelier and brighter. The addition of Amir Khusrau’s composition Song Chaap Tilak is an added attraction in this episode.
Rating: 3.5/5
All these 5 stories spread the rays of hope and positivity amidst crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic by making relationships stronger and bringing the hearts closer with Unpaused being another step towards this direction.
