Unpaused

Unpaused is an Indian Hindi-language anthology film consisting of five short segments directed by Raj & DK, Nitya Mehra, Nikkhil Advani, Tannishtha Chatterjee and Avinash Arun.^[1] With an ensemble cast, the stories revolved around lives of people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2] It premiered on 18 December 2020 on Amazon Prime Video.^[3]

Unpaused
Release poster
Directed by	Tannishtha Chatterjee Raj & DK Nitya Mehra Nikkhil Advani Avinash Arun
Written by	Raj & DK Devika Bhagat Nitya Mehra Reshu Nath Vidur Nauriyal Shubham Sanyuktha Chawla Shaikh
Produced by	Raj & DK Madhu Bhojwani Monisha Advani Baisakhi Nair Sanjeevkumar Nair
Starring	Gulshan Devaiah Sumeet Vyas Saiyami Kher Richa Chadda Abhishek Banerjee Ratna Pathak Shah Ishwak Singh Geetika Vidya Ohlyan Rinku Rajguru Lillete Dubey
Cinematography	Pankaj Kumar Jay Pinak Oza John Jacob Payyapalli Navagat Prakash Kaushal Shah
Edited by	Sanyukta Kaza Sachin Kunal Sagar Manik Sumeet Kotian Dharmendra Kakarala Antara Lahiri Manas Mittal
Music by	Tanishk Bagchi Payal Dev Parth Parekh Shishir A Samant Gaurav Kadu
Distributed by	Amazon Prime Video
Release date	18 December 2020 (2020-12-18)
Running time	113 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Cast

Glitch (Raj & DK)

• Gulshan Devaiah as Ahan Awasthi
• Saiyami Kher as Ayesha Hussain

Apartment (Nikkhil Advani)

• Richa Chadda as Devika Khanna
• Ishwak Singh as Chirag
• Sumeet Vyas as Sahil Khanna

Rat A Tat (Tannishtha Chatterjee)

• Rinku Rajguru as Priyanka
• Lillete Dubey as Archna

Vishaanu (Avinash Arun)

• Abhishek Banerjee as Manish
• Geetika Vidya Ohlyan as Seema

Chaand Mubarak (Nitya Mehra)

• Ratna Pathak Shah as Uma
• Shardul Bharadwaj as Rafique (Auto Driver)^[4]

Critical reception

Debasree Purkayastha of The Hindu mentioned that the film has "a stirring ensemble of slice-of-life tales that dwell on the common themes of loneliness, love and hope."^[5] Saibal Chatterjee from NDTV wrote: "As a freewheeling rumination on loneliness, distress and lingering hope, the anthology, buoyed by a slew of terrific performances, is a pertinent commentary on a pandemic and its depredations."^[6]

Nandini Ramnath of Scroll.in praised the performances in the film but was critical of the treatment.^[7] Writing for The Indian Express, Shubhra Gupta noted that the film mixes different themes like loneliness and isolation "with news that has made headlines in this terrible virus-laden year, with average results."^[8] Anna M. M. Vetticad wrote: "Unpaused is important because it serves to chronicle this slice of history. It helps that it is also an enjoyable, insightful affair."^[9]

Soundtrack

Unpaused
Soundtrack album by Tanishk Bagchi, Payal Dev, Parth Parekh, Shishir A Samant and Gaurav Kadu
Released	11 December 2020[10]
Recorded	2020
Genre	Amazon Original Movie Soundtrack
Length	19:42
Language	Hindi
Label	Amazon Music
External audio Official Audio Jukebox on YouTube

The music was composed by Tanishk Bagchi, Payal Dev, Parth Parekh, Shishir A Samant and Gaurav Kadu with lyrics written by Rashmi Virag, Kunaal Vermaa, Ginny Diwan, Traditional and Gaurav Kadu.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Nayi Dhoop"	Rashmi Virag	Tanishk Bagchi	Zara Khan	3:21
2.	"Ummeed Hai"	Kunaal Vermaa	Payal Dev	Jubin Nautiyal	2:42
3.	"Badarva"	Ginny Diwan	Parth Parekh	Madhubanti Bagchi	1:57
4.	"Chaap Tilak"	Traditional (Amir Khusrau)	Shishir A Samant	Shishir A Samant, Sunil Kamath	3:10
5.	"Nayi Dhoop" (Reprise)	Rashmi Virag	Tanishk Bagchi	Zara Khan	3:19
6.	"Mujh Mai Hai Tu"	Gaurav Kadu	Gaurav Kadu	Fiddlecraft, Gaurav Kadu	3:15
7.	"Rastey"	Gaurav Kadu	Gaurav Kadu	Fiddlecraft, Gaurav Kadu	1:58
Total length:					19:42

References

1. "WATCH: 'Unpaused' trailer: Friendship, hope in Amazon's anthology". The New Indian Express. 9 December 2020. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
2. Jhunjhunwala, Udita (20 December 2020). "Unpaused on Amazon Prime: Actors, creators of the anthology discuss using the 'lens of hope' in telling their stories". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
3. "'Unpaused' Critics' Review: Anthology Finds Hope in a Pandemic". The Quint. 19 December 2020. Archived from the original on 30 May 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
4. "An anthology film, Unpaused, relives the pandemic". Archived from the original on 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
5. Purkayastha, Debasree (19 December 2020). "'Unpaused' review: Fighting the pandemic, one feel-good story at a time". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
6. Chatterjee, Saibal (18 December 2020). "Unpaused Review: Anthology Of Lockdown Stories Is Highly Recommended". NDTV. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
7. Ramnath, Nandini (18 December 2020). "'Unpaused' review: Amazon Prime Video anthology film finds the rainbow in the Covid-19 storm". Scroll.in. Archived from the original on 19 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
8. Gupta, Shubhra (19 December 2020). "Unpaused review: A middling anthology". Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
9. MM Vetticad, Anna (18 December 2020). "Unpaused movie review: Young and old, poor migrants and the lonely rich share space in a pleasant pandemic anthology". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 18 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.
10. "Unpaused (Music from the Prime Original Series)". Amazon Music. 18 December 2020. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 20 December 2020.

External links

• Unpaused at IMDb