Watch this documentary short if you're still struggling to deal with the new normal

‘Is the past the future that we want? What did we learn first? Did we learn full stops before commas? Where are we now? How far are we into this sentence?’

These are but a few of the many questions posed by Kalki Koechlin as she narrates the short 2021 documentary – New Normal. The film helmed by Anushka Shivdasani Rovshen and written by Aekta Khuchandani under the banner of Running Cow Films Production is a series of snippets shot by 20+ cinematographers from around the world. The editor Abhishek Chandran has done a fantastic job in knitting the stories captured from around the globe into a cohesive documentary.

The narration by Koechlin along with music by Keshav Dhar weaves an intense, self-reflective journey for the viewer in just about five minutes. Contrasted against the backdrop of several high-resolution montages capturing people, places and life amidst the pandemic from every corner of the world, the film continues to reflect and make us ponder over questions like- ‘If we are in a song and it stops midway, would we still dance to the music playing in our head? The sun is so bright that it blinds us, lights the sky white. Those in spotted settlements, who flew kites like they owned the skies. How do you stop the wind runners?’

Halfway through the documentary, you are juxtaposed with images with a seemingly positive light. ‘A five-letter word, small in our mouth, has brought our silence…Do you remember the warmth of a shared space? Everything is oddly sanitized. Our hearts blackened with fear and anxiety?’, the narration continues.

Koechlin’s voice further attempts to delve into the new normal that we, as humans have adapted ourselves to, with limitations in physical contact and an increase in the amount of time spent in virtually connecting with our loved ones. ‘What does tomorrow look like? We’re cutting distance with fingertips? Some of us had subscribed to happiness, waiting to be notified of delivery at doorstep…’ as Koechlin’s voice echoes through the snippets of video calls from strangers, the viewer is transfixed into a world of their own, a world they are adjusting to.

The more important questions that we all need to answer are left for the end - ‘Will we still sow fruits for happiness in other graves?’

‘What if we begin with kindness?’ - will the world we live in be any better?

New Normal is streaming on Disney+Hotstar.