iWorld
Amazon Prime Video’s Unpaused is about new beginnings
MUMBAI: The trailer of Amazon Prime Video’s Hindi anthology Unpaused is out. The movie, featuring five short films directed by some of the most talented filmmakers in the Indian film industry, aims to show the importance of moving on and finding new beginnings when things look dim. Unpaused will drop on the streaming platform on 18 December in over 200 countries and territories.
The trailer gives viewers a glimpse of the five stories encapsulated in the movie:
I. The Apartment, directed by Nikkhil Advani (D-Day) and starring Richa Chadha (Inside Edge), Sumeet Vyas (Wakaalat From Home), Ishwak Singh (Paatal Lok)
II. Rat – A – Tat featuring Rinku Rajguru (Sairat), directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee (Parched)
III. Chaand Mubarak directed by Nitya Mehra (Made in Heaven) starring Ratna Pathak Shah (Thappad) and Shardul Bhardwaj (Bhonsle)
IV. Sample House directed by Avinash Arun (Paatal Lok) starring Abhishek Banerjee (Paatal Lok) and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan (Thappad)
V. Glitch directed by Raj & DK (The Family Man) starring Gulshan Deviah (Afsos), SaiyamiKher (Breathe: Into the Shadows).
“The union of such creative forces during these unprecedented times is testament to the fact that creativity cannot be capped,” said Amazon Prime Video head of India Originals Aparna Purohit. She added, “These turbulent times call for faith and assurance in the power of new beginnings. It is our endeavour to consistently bring unique stories and newer formats on the service through our Originals offering; and we are delighted to offer a fresh format with Unpaused.”
The anthology follows the successful launch of Putham Pudhu Kaalai, the Tamil five-film anthology, as well as the releases of several widely-acclaimed Hindi films like Chhalaang, Shankuntala Devi and Gulabo Sitabo, along with Amazon Original series Bandish Bandits, Paatal Lok, Breathe: Into The Shadows, and Mirzapur 2, among others.
Unpaused was shot in compliance with government rules and regulations issued in the state of Maharashtra for filming during the Unlock phase.
"We are excited to extend our successful association with Amazon Prime Video and explore a new genre together,” said Raj and DK. “Creating The Family Man was a liberating experience for us as content creators, and the assurance of thinking unconstrained has only encouraged us to extend our collaboration through Glitch. We are certain viewers will enjoy the film as much as we enjoyed making it.”
“We went far down the roads of ingenuity and resourcefulness to come up with an exciting visual experience like The Apartment,” director Nikkhil Advani said. “With the cast and crew working towards a common goal, and having to think outside the box to bring this creation to life, this production experience has been a novelty. The intent is to showcase the optimism new beginnings carry, and we are happy to be able to take this story to a global audience.”
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
