- Posted by Filmi Beat, last updated on 20 January, 2022

Debut film – The Couple

The story begins with Aakriti (Shreya Dhanwantri) and Dippy (Priyanshu Painyuli), a married couple working from home during the lockdown. Cooking food together, participating in household chores and sitting for hours at a laptop, the couple’s life takes a turn when Aakriti is suddenly fired. Due to this sudden change in career and routine, in which direction does the change in the relationship between husband and wife go, this 30-minute film revolves around this.

Many people had to lose their jobs during Kovid. Many companies fired people overnight. The effect of this has been shown in this film directed by Nupur Asthana. An attempt has been made to show how people are going through emotional turmoil due to professional setbacks. The story of the film is firmly tied. The screenplay written by Nupur Asthana and Samina Motlekar shows a simplicity. Talking about acting, Shreya Dhanwantri and Priyanshu Painyuli have done well. Both have shown the love, tension, turmoil, hope in relationships very well.

Second film – War Room

The film ‘War Room’, directed by Ayyappa KM, tries to show how the frontline workers faced adversity during the pandemic and how they stood up for us amidst all the risks. Sangeeta Waghmare (Geetanjali Kulkarni) is a primary teacher who is handling the COVID helpline station during the lockdown. She informs about the availability of beds to people infected with Kovid. Handles thousands of phone calls every day. But one day a call comes to his helpline.. which exposes the most painful moment of his life.

The story of War Room sounds exciting but fails to make an impact. Somewhere something seems incomplete. Nonetheless, Geetanjali Kulkarni looks strong in her character.

Third film- Teen Tigada

This is the story of three thieves who are hiding in a factory with stolen goods or just say that they are trapped. They wait for the lockdown to end, to distribute the money by selling the goods and go back to their lives. But this time was not so easy for them. Their journey from clashing with each other to brotherhood is an interesting one. The strongest side of this story is the trio of Saqib Saleem, Ashish Verma and Sam Mohan. Directed by Ruchir Arun, the story seems repetitive at times, but leaves an impact as it reaches the climax.

Fourth film- Gond Ke Laddu

Due to the lockdown, Sushila Tripathi (Neena Kulkarni) is unable to visit her daughter, who has become a new mother. Nani’s heart is eager to see her grandson, but Corona has kept everyone tied within the boundary wall. In such a situation, she makes gond ladoos for her daughter with her own hands and thinks of couriering it online. For mothers who were away from technology till today.. For them, couriering online is also a big struggle, after many ups and downs.. finally she succeeds.

Along with the love and affection of the mother, the director also gives a glimpse of the life of courier service people on the other hand. In the lockdown, everyone has affected the other in some way or the other. Directed by Shikha Maken, this film touches the heart. The script of the film is very tight, which has been written by Shikha Maken herself. Neena Kulkarni, Darshana Rajendran and Laxveer Singh Saran all three have done justice to their characters.

Fifth film – Vaikunth

“Here the bed of the rich and the poor is the same”.. This line written on the wall of the crematorium attracts attention again and again. Vikas (Nagraj Manjule) works there, who has lost consciousness after seeing dead bodies coming to the crematorium every day, burning. After being evicted from the house by the landlord, he stays with his son in the crematorium. During this, the relationship between father and son is heart touching. Every day an ambulance would come and bring with it the dead bodies of people who died due to corona infection. Seeing these dead bodies, the fear hidden inside his mind also got reflected in his eyes. His aged father was also hospitalized due to Corona. The film revolves around how Vikas maintains positivity in his mind even after living in the midst of burning dead bodies every day.

When Corona was at its peak, lakhs of people were dying every day in the country, bodies were being burnt together in crematoriums. Some people read this painful scene in the newspapers, some saw it on television.. and some went through these situations. But what was the condition of those who work in these crematoriums. Director Nagraj Manjule has brought to the audience the scenes of the crematorium, which is heart-wrenching. The film strikes a unique balance between hope and despair. Harshvardhan Waghdhare’s camera work is impressive. Qutub Inamdar’s editing gives the story a strength.

see or not see

With these 5 different stories woven around the pandemic and the lockdown, this anthology is a reminder that after a dark night, there is also morning light. Combining love, fear, friendship, forgiveness and trust, ‘Unposed: Naya Journey’ shows how the pandemic has changed us from within. It has made our lives and feelings more valuable. 3.5 stars to ‘Unpaused: Naya Safar’ from Filmbeat.