Unlocking a treasure

Gurnaaz Kaur

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This is a difficult phase, a war-like situation where the whole world is fighting one demon. Filmmaker Abhijit Das says, “One option is to go extinct and the other is to rise up to the occasion. I think we should just stop calling it the new normal because this is not at all normal; in fact, this is very abnormal. It is a new life and as abnormal as it may be, we have to come to terms with it and see how we can innovate.”

In this process of discovery, he has come up with a kind of storytelling that crosses all boundaries. Abhijit roped-in actors from India, Pakistan, USA, Sweden, Bangladesh, Australia, UK and more countries for a series titled Unlocked, for which five films were shot virtually.

Positive mindset

Although we were all waking up to bad news each day, Abhijit looked for the positives of being in a lockdown. “I said why don’t we look at the lockdown in a different way? I always thought why talk about lockdown, why not talk about getting unlocked?”

Then, he began to come across people who started discovering their own relationships in different ways because they started talking; they started unlocking things in their heads. “So, the whole concept at that point was unlocking anything during the lockdown that you have kept locked up for many years.”

Compelling story

Meanwhile, this is his fourth web series. Known for his hit serial Sanjivani, Abhijit has also directed award-winning short film titled Ambu. “I think the form of storytelling that I am doing now, if you see Unlocked, is a very interesting form of narrative. The point is that we add a lot of frills in our storytelling in terms of camera, lights, costume, make-up, a huge crew and so much more. In this particular form, it is just about getting artistes together and telling a compelling story.”

Conceiving it was one thing and bringing it to life another. Technical difficulties were a given. While the show might involve two people sitting in different continents, it had to still look like they were sitting in the same room! “Shooting with Indian or Pakistani actors was okay; but when it was time for me to sleep, people in the US woke up. Then I was shooting with someone in Singapore and it was a couple of more hours, and then in Australia, which meant the difference of some more hours and suddenly I was awake 24 hours a day! But it was a learning experience.”

Amid all this, he has pulled of 11 films during these three months, all shot virtually. It includes five episodes of Lockdown Rishte for MX Player, a show that explores the positive effects of lockdown on relationships.