Short films have had a substantial boost during this pandemic, without a doubt. Over the past two years, we have seen a series about Satyajit Ray, about the Pandemic, and about the nine rasas like love, lust, disgust, etc. Some of these were successful, while others failed. However, OTT is still betting on them and the second set of Amazon Prime Video’s anthology series ‘Putham Pudhu Kaalai Vidiyaadhaa…’ lands on Pongal weekend.
The five shorts focus again on the ‘challenges’ characters faced during the COVID pandemic’s second lockdown. In contrast to the last time when prominent directors like Gautam Menon, Sudha Kongara, Suhasini, and others helmed the episodes, this time there are a bunch of relatively upcoming directors telling their stories. A silver lining is always on the horizon in each story – ‘Mugakavasa Mutham’, ‘Loners’, ‘Mouname Paarvayaai’, ‘Nizhal Tharum Idham’, ‘The Mask’.
In an interesting twist, one of the short films in the anthology is directed by Madhumita and stars the delightful and talented actress Nadia Moidu and Malayalam actor Joju George. Joju George admits that the pandemic and the OTT have given his acting career a new lease, similar to many other talented actors. Recently, he has appeared in most of the films on OTT, including Karthik Subburaj’s gangster Tamil movie ‘Jagame Thandhiram’.
The movie ‘Mouname Paarvayaai’ tells the story of a middle-aged couple, played by the dynamic Nadiya and Joju. Couple trapped in the drudgery of everyday life learn how critical it is to communicate with each other. ‘Kadhalil Sodhappuvadhu Eppadi’ director Balaji Mohan’s ‘Mugakavasa Mutham’ on young love is also promising. The director says he weaves together two of the most basic human emotions, love and longing, which were marred by the pandemic. Through Gouri’s and Teejay’s characters, we have attempted to demonstrate that love survives even the worst of times, we just have to keep believing,’ he says in a statement. This anthology also includes Aishwarya Lakshmi, Arjun Das, and Lijimol Jose (of Jai Bhim fame).
An anthology series based on the pandemic, Unpaused: Naya Safar, will premiere on the same platform on January 26. Five stories will reveal how the pandemic made us value life and emotions more than ever before. There is no sign of an end in sight to this pandemic, so people might just want to unwind and breathe freely without a mask again, as they are fed up with resilient stories.
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