Release Date : January 20, 2023
123telugu.com Rating : 2.5/5
Starring: Rakul Preet Singh, Sumeet Vyas, Satish Kaushik, Rajesh Tailang, Dolly Ahluwalia, Prachee Shah Paandya, Rakesh Bedi, and Riva Arora
Director: Tejas Prabhaa Vijay Deoskar
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Music Directors: Akhil Sachdeva, Durgesh R Rajbhatt, Rohan, Sumeet Bellary
Cinematography: Siddharth Bharat Vasani
Editor: Shruthi Bora
Related Links : Trailer
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
Star Cast : Sumeet Vyas, Ritvik Joshi, Omkar Kulkarni
Director : Pranav Bhasin
Production : TVF Films/MX Player
Music : Aakash Mukherjee
So, continuing the series of reviewing movies and shows during the lockdown period, our today’s pick is the Hindi web series Bhootiyagiri. The series is available on MX Player for free and let’s see how it is.
What’s it about
After getting jailed in season 2, Dilwar Rana(Sumeet Vyas) a top-class CEO, starts operating his company from the jail. After a point, he gets released from there with a condition and is brought to a luxurious hotel. He is forced to run it but not many know that Dilwar has a childhood connection with the hotel which is haunted. The rest of the story is as to how Dilwar uses all his CEO skills and makes this haunted hotel into a big success.
What’s good?
The initial episodes are quite good and start with a bang. The concept of today’s CEO running a haunted hotel looks super solid. Sumeet Vyas does his best in his role and the way he showcases his traumatic past with his expressions in many scenes in very good. The BGM of the show is pretty good and the supporting cast also fo well. the subtle comedy in many scenes also holds up well in many areas. The casting is done perfectly as many characters look real and bring a lot of depth.
What’s bad?
After starting the show in such a nice manner, the latter part of the episodes goes down like a pack of cards. The duration of these episodes is less but a good thriller turns out into a routine and predictable family drama with many over the top and silly scenes.
But the biggest drawback is the screenplay which lacks punch in the last few episodes. The narration takes a beating and what could have been a gripping watch is made dull and boring in no time. The so-called horror scenes also create no impact on the narrative.
Final Word
Overall, the third season of Bhootiyagiri has a new and solid premise but lousy narration kills it. The show starts on a very promising note and keeps you on your toes. But once the third episode starts everything falls flat and things become predictable, routine, and over the top. It feels like a really good opportunity wasted in no time and makes this series a big letdown.
Rating: 2/5
