Unpaused: Naya Safar, a sequel anthology series of Unpaused with its five short stories showcases how the pandemic has affected us all in different ways!
It's been so long that we have even lost the count off but feeling normal has left us a long time and now we are all used to the idea of pausing-readjusting-unpausing of our lives according to the situations. But the whole genre of anthologies is just as confusing to understand and keep track of just as this pandemic is, period! Whether you tell a number of short films as a part of a series or as a part of a film on the same theme/topic, does it really make a difference? I don't know but leaving aside the technicalities of anthologies as a genre there is no doubt on the fact that they definitely bring out a new way of storytelling. Now, I am not sure whether to call Unpaused: Naya Safar a sequel or rather a continuation into the next chapter. But it sure deep dives into the chaotic mess of our lives that this system of pause and unpause that this pandemic has left us with.
Unpaused is a series of five shorts by five different directors focused on telling us how the pandemic is still affecting our lives. Each film dabbles into the how rather than being frightened by the uncertainty we have all adjusted to, the ever-changing new-normal and dealing with the second wave while the sword of another lockdown is hanging over us. Usually, there's one champion film that stands out from the rest in such anthology series but here are three films that stood out for me. The Couple, by Nupur Asthana, War Room, by Ayappa KM, and Vaikunth, by Nagraj Manjule. The rest two Teen Tigada, by Ruchir Arun, and Gond Ke Laddu, by Shikha Makan couldn't create any impact.
Talking about each film in its isolation, The Couple starring Shreya Dhanwanthary (Akriti) and Priyanshu Painyuli (Dippy) is an honest take into the lives of an urban work-from-home couple. When the corners of the house are occupied, and the lives are being dictated by technology, communication and understanding emotions take a backseat, and the couple has a hard time. The film is a sweet-relevant-well-performed take on how the pandemic affects the urban working young couple. But it would have been nice to see a little more depth into conflict and resolution.
The War Room starring Geetanjali Kulkarni (Sangeeta), and Vaikunth starring Nagraj Manjule (Vikas Chavan) is a masterclass in short filmmaking that says so much without saying too much. These two films are the most impactful of the five and they do that with just their silence. The War Room deals with the humanistic dilemma of helping a person in this pandemic who has caused havoc in your life. While Vaikunth deals with the haunting normalization of suffering in a pandemic by following a story of a cremation worker, both the films in their own way with exceptional performances paint such an honest image without turning their protagonist into some heroic figure that leaves a terrifyingly beautiful feeling within you.
Teen Tigada starring Saqib Saleem, Sam Mohan, Ashish Verma, and Gond Ke Laddu is the least working of the five because of its confusing under-explored structure, over-pouring of certain emotions, no fleshed-out characters, and just pure emptiness. There's nothing that jumps out of these shorts even their point messages of random connections in a pandemic misfire. Instead of leaving something with you they are the ones that bring down the emotion of an entire anthology.
But all in all Unpaused: Naya Safar becomes a great example of how anthologies tend to be a different yet impactful way of storytelling given the fact that you know how to tell a story in a short duration of time.
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