Shreya Dhanwanthary on Unpaused: Naya Safar - 'Wanted to bring truth to the quiet devastation'

The talented Shreya Dhanwanthary featured in two of the most successful web series Scam 1992  and  The Family Man__. She has now seen in Amazon’s engaging anthology   Unpaused: Ek Safar   as a wife who loses her job during the pandemic. Excerpts: You play a wife in Unpaused: Naya Safar who loses her job during the lockdown. It is a highly relatable situation during the pandemic. How deeply did you connect with the plot? Yes, I am one-half the couple and play the relatable role of someone who loses her job. I am really glad people are resonating with that aspect which is quite sad. It means they have gone through it themselves or have seen someone go through it. Yes, all of us are familiar with the idea of losing something. People who are in a 9 to 5 job give years to the company so, what they go through is a lot more devastating and I intended to just bring truth to quiet devastation that happens. Many films and series are being made on the lockdown. Do you think it’s a healthy trend? I think art is always an expression of what one is going through either in terms of the lens of what happens in history or as a lens of what’s happening right now or as a prediction of what may happen. So yes, trends come and go. It’s healthy that we are representative of what is happening. It would be even cooler if there wasn’t censorship. How difficult was it to shoot during the pandemic? Did you and your costar Priyanshu Painyuli get a chance to rehearse before shooting? So we shot it when the pandemic started opening last year and Priyanshu and I have had relatively a lot more experience shooting with everyone being in PPE kits and masks, the crew had the worst of it but they made sure that we could bring our characters to life by making safe, sanitized, clean and up to the protocol, so it was all on them. And yes we did get to rehearse a couple of times because the whole process took about a week including rehearsals, costume trials, photoshoots, and the shoot which was 3 days, so it was the whole process took about a week. You have been part of two of the most successful web series Family Man and Scam? Are you happy with the progress you have made so far especially on the digital platform? Yes, that is pretty awesome, but I would add one more to the series of my cool series Mumbai Diaries. Yes, I am very grateful for the progress that I have made, I can believe people not only have seen my work but they are also appreciated so that’s truly remarkable, something I still can’t believe. With Cinemas in a state of uncertainty do you see the OTT as the way forward? I think the cinemas are forever. They will never die, that big-screen experience will keep coming back and that’s the unparalleled experience. But I do think the OTT has shifted the paradigm, has changed a lot of rules in the playground, so the way forward will be exciting and vast. And I think there’s space for everything.   How has the lockdown and the pandemic been treating you? I will speak from my position of privilege where I can say that I have used it as a time of reflection, used it as a time to be with my family, and have all of their happening which can only come from being extremely privileged so ya I am very heart my goes out to people who have the worst years of their life in the pandemic. Are you happy with the response to Unpaused: Naya Safar? What are your forthcoming projects after this anthology? Yes, I am happy by the response; people are relating to it and they are appreciating the hard work that’s gone into it. People are appreciating my performance, I am really happy. I have Loop Lapeta coming out on Feb. 4 where I have a special appearance. Then I have a film coming up with the wonderful R. Balki called Chup and I have Sabir Khan’s Adbhut. As of now, these are the ones.

Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.