Abhishek Banerjee

Cast : Gulshan Devaiah, Sumeet Vyas, Saiyami Kher, Richa Chadda, Abhishek Banerjee, Ratna Pathak

Directed by : Raj & DK, Nitya Mehra, Nikkhil Advani, Tannishtha Chatterjee, Avinash Arun

Producer : Raj & DK, Madhu Bhojwani, Monisha Advani, Baisakhi Nair, Sanjeevkumar Nai

Cinematography : Pankaj Kumar

So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows, our today’s pick is Unpaused, the Hindi anthology film. This film is available on Prime Video and let’s now see how it is.

Story :

This anthology film has five stories directed by Raj & DK, Nitya Mehra, Nikkhil Advani, Tannishtha Chatterjee, and Avinash Arun. Each of the stories is set during the lockdown period and showcases how different individuals with unique personalities acted to the near and dear stuck in Covid times. These stories have actors like Gulshan Devaiah as Ahan Sumeet Vyas, Saiyami Kher, Richa Chadda, Abhishek Banerjee, Ratna Pathak Shah, Ishwak Singh, Rinku Rajguru, Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, Lillete Dubey, and Shardul Bharadwaj in key roles.

What’s Good

The actors do a decent job but the best of the lot was Ratna Pathak Shah and Abhishek Banerjee. Ratna in her role of a lonely lady and how she becomes friends with an auto driver is shown beautifully. Abhishek Banerjee’s story is the best of the lot and shows how a lower class guy with his family lands in a rich house and spends his quarantine there. Rinku Rajguru and her story with Lalitte Dubey is also touching.

Richa Chadha does well in her emotional role as the lady who wants to end her life. All the stories have a good connection to the COVID times and have been designed well except for the first one. The production values are good and so was the BGM. Shardul Bhardwaj as the Muslim auto driver was very good in his serious role and his chemistry with Ratna Shah was amazing.

What’s Bad

One of the biggest drawbacks of the show is the first short directed by Raj and DK. Their short is about a crazy guy reacting to the COVID in a weird manner. This story lacks logic and the only solace was the performance of Sayami Kher which is wasted. The emotions in the first three episodes are not that strong and do not elevate pain.

As the lockdown is done, most of the stories do not create much impact. The effect that is needed to created pain for the main conflict point of COVID is not at all done well. Some of the actors chosen for supporting roles were also not good. The endings of the first two stories look weird.

Verdict :

On the whole, Unpaused is an anthology film that has a backdrop of COVID lockdown but does not impress you much. The needed emotions are missing and stories feel incomplete. Except for Abhishek Banerjee and Ratna Pathak Shah’s short stories, this film has nothing great to offer as the other stories are rushed and fail in execution.

123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5
Reviewed by 123telugu Team

Starring : Neeraj Kabi, Gul Panag, Jaideep Ahlawat, Abhishek Banerjee, Mairembam Ronaldo Singh, Swastika Mukherjee

Directed by : Avinash Arun & Prosit Roy

Producer(s) : Clean Slate Films, Anushka Sharma’s banner

Cinematography : Avinash Arun, Saurabh Goswami

So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows during the lockdown period, our today’s pick is the latest Hindi web series Paatal Lok. Produced by star heroine Anushka Sharma, this series is available on Amazon Prime.

What’s it about?

In the heat of Delhi traffic, four criminals get caught red-handed fleeing the city. The news comes in that this group landed in the city to kill a famous TV journalist Sanjeev Mehra(Neeraj Kabi). The Delhi police select inspector Hati Ram Choudary(Jaideep Ahlawat) to crack this case. But as the web series progresses, Hati Ram comes to know that some of the biggest heads in the country are involved in this case. How does he crack the case forms the rest of the story?

What’s good?

Paatal Lok has a solid script and that is the main strength of the web series. The manner in which the story unfolds with each episode is riveting and has been executed in the best way possible. The back story of each of the criminals is shown in a gruesome manner. The detailing that has gone into the writing is on another level as every nitty-gritty of logic and how the whole media and political game played is shown in a terrific manner.

Jaideep Ahlawat gives his career-best performance. His slang as the Delhi police and how he fights alone to crack the case, the actor has showcased it in a solid manner. Abhishek Banerjee as Haotda Tyagi was brutal in his role. Gul Panag did her house wife’s role well. The caste-based politics in UP have been showcased well. Ishwak Singh as Ansari is also amazing in the series.

The web series has the best production values and looks so realistic. The BGM, camerawork, and props used are so real and effective. The series has 10 episodes and every episode is filled with crime and suspense which keeps you hooked till the end.

What’s bad

The story is simple but the way it is unraveled is a bit complex. If you miss a few scenes or an episode it is very hard to understand what is going on in the story. Things should have been simplified a bit for the common man to understand the proceedings a bit more easily. There is too much gore and is surely not for family audience.

Final Word :

Overall, Paatal Lok is one of the best web series that has come out in recent times. The writing, setup, performances, and execution is top-notch. All those who have an eye for investigative thrillers will just love this series. Barring the slightly complex narration in a few episodes, Paatal Lok is a must-watch during this lockdown. Don’t Miss it.

Rating: 3.5/5

Review : Unpaused – Hindi Anthology film on Amazon Prime

Lockdown Review : Paatal Lok -Web Series on Amazon Prime