The Covid effect: Pandemic has enhanced creative output of Indian cinema

As they try to figure out what is possible and what isn't, Indian filmmakers, writers, technicians and actors are pushing the boundaries of their craft.

Mahesh Narayanan’s C U Soon (Malayalam) is a curious film. Jimmy, a bank employee in Dubai, meets Anu on a dating app. They start chatting and fall in love. Then weird things start happening — Anu is beaten up and Jimmy is taken into custody. Roshan Mathew, Fahadh Faasil and Darshana Rajendran bring alive this staccato tale, told through phone and laptop screens between India, Dubai and the US.
 
C U Soon, however, was shot in Kochi during the pandemic last year. Narayanan had just finished the big-budget Malik when the lockdown delayed its release. “The whole industry went