Unpaused: Naya Safar Movie Review: Five Stories Set In Lockdown And Each One Leaves You With A Positive Message And Fighting Spirit

Amazon Prime's latest offering Unpaused: Naya Safar showcases five stories that look into how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed us, making us value life and emotions and relationships more than ever. Vignettes of raw human emotions like love, longing, fear and friendship are brought together in this anthology to leave you with positivity, fighting spirit and a courage to wait till it's not over.

1) The Couple -

A brilliant take on half-torn relationship of an urban couple

Nupur Asthana The Couple brings a story of the married couple who battles to keep their relationship safe. As we know, many people have lost their jobs during the pandemic, and it created a lot of fuss in their lives whether it is about the financial crisis or the ego difference with the partner about being the only jobless person in the house. Shreya Dhanwanthary plays a modern wife, who loses her job right when she was supposed to get a promotion. Her confidence lowers and then her frustration causes brutal arguments with the husband, played by Priyanshu Painyuli, who still has his job. Both of them create a good chemistry and as the short features only these two for the maximum time, you enjoy their chemistry the most out of anything. Overall, it's a good take on a husband and wife's relationship which goes through a professional tragedy and it's indeed a very relatable one.

RATING - 3/5*

2) War Room -

An intellectual journey of conflict between revenge and forgiveness

Ayappa KM's War Room takes you to the Covid-19 War room, where school teachers have been recruited as telephone operators. Government started a helpline service so that anyone who needs guidance or a bed for the corona patient would get the correct information from the officials. However, Writers Ayappa KM, Anand Menon and Shubham have brought a twist in the simple story where we see the lead actress Geetanjali Kulkarni trying to complete her revenge. This comes like a surprise, I mean her son's death and all, but as a whole it takes you on an intellectual journey of human facets and a conflict between revenge and forgiveness. It ends up with a solid message, watch out for that.

RATING - 3.5/10*

3) Teen Tigaada –

A simple story of lower class workers with a strong finish

Ruchir Arun and Abhinandan Sridhar's Teen Tigaada reveals a lot from its title only. As you expect, it is a story of three workers who are stuck in the Lockdown restrictions and are unable to sell their stocks. Saqib Saleem, Ashish Verma and Sam Mohan portray those three men in wild manners and abusive words but that's agreeably fine because that's how those lower class workers usually behave (you can hear them on any tea stalls or dhabas). Director Ruchir Arun provides a lot of plausible conflicts and various expressions to the characters but it sums up more as a fantastic comedy than a human drama. However, he collects those scattered pieces by the end to deliver a fullfill end to the simple tale. Comparatively, this one surely goes as the weakest one in this series.

RATING - 2.5/5*

4) Gond Ke Laddu –

A sweet dish with many flavours of human bonds

Director Shikha Makan's Gond Ke Laddu can be referred as the latest version of Ritesh Batra's classic The Lunchbox. A housewife learns how to send an online courier but an already troubled delivery boy increases his own problems further, accidently. Neena Kulkarni makes a brilliant woman; she's simple, kind and very emotional. Lakshvir Singh Saran shows the disturbed life of a delivery boy while Darshana Rajendran plays a sensible, supportive wife. Makan's dish has a lot of ingredients and if your tongue has the taste for the right food, you'll love and cherish this sweet food forever.

RATING - 4/5*

5) Vaikunth –

The Best In The Series

So, they saved the best for the last. Vaikunth directed by Nagraj Manjule is a true masterpiece that explores human drama to the core. If you've seen Manjule's masterclass in Fandry and Sairat, then you know what to expect from the master storyteller. I would say, he's gone one level up this time. Written by Manjule and Sudhir Kulkarni, Vaikunth is a story of a cremator played by Manjule, and his son played by child artist Arjun Karche. During the pandemic, we all praised the work of Doctors, Police and BMC officers but did we ever care about the men who work in Crematorium? Well, FYI they gave us equal services as the numbers of deaths were too high during the period and literally no one gave a damn about them. Vaikunth makes you realize their work, and in this short Silence speaks more than words. Every frame has something to say, whether it is Lord Shiva's frame upfront where the ashes are dumped or Sunset frame with smoke of burning the dead. Nagraj Manjule shows his class yet again and then there is a very sensible ending to it, which will force you to acknowledge the values of relationships.

RATING - 4.5/5*