Anubhav Sinha’s Bheed might be a film for some but for many, it’s bound to be a cathartic journey into the prologue to the darkest chapters of humanity that left the world gasping for air. Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj Kapur starrer is an important story that dexterously rewinds the time for you and takes you back to that fateful date when India’s first lockdown was announced. What followed was a trail of decisions promulgated in view of preventing the outbreak but what it actually did was render thousands of people on a homeward-bound journey with bare necessities in hand. Bheed captured the pathos, pangs, and grief of the marginalized through empathy and compassion tinted-lens.
It opens to the uneasy glimpses of migrant workers and labourers peregrinating through the borders of the country, some huddled inside vehicles, others walking barefoot on the scorching roads with no destination in sight. It begins on a harrowing crescendo when we see a group of such workers stopping on the rail tracks to have their meal. Unbeknownst to the tragedy that was about to hit them, they decide to take a nap. The shrill and deafening sound of the train and the mellow rumbling of the tracks intercalated with a poignant shot of everyone sleeping soundly evokes jitters. And just like that, without any blood and gore, the train serves as a prodigious metaphor for how the film will impact you through its varied distressing frames.
The premise that follows afterward is entirely built on dialogues, supported by characters like Surya Kumar Singh Tikas (played by Rajkummar Rao), Renu Sharma (played by Bhumi Pednekar), Trivedi Babu (played by Pankaj Kapur), and others. In the wake of the newly announced lockdown, the plot unfurls at the borders of a state and portrays a microcosm of class, caste, religion, and ranks and their agonizing struggle in the light of the pandemic.
For one, Anubhav Sinha stays honest and unapologetic with his style of storytelling. Even with the lack of impactful dialogue, the washed-out monochrome frames rightly furnish the due solemnness to the spired narrative and infused life into some of those censored dialogues. Through a slew of scenes that portray men, women, and children with blistered and papule-ridden soles, parched and famished expressions, and the sense of prognostication imprinted on their faces, Anubhav Sinha willfully conveys what he wanted to convey. And quite impactfully too.
The simple yet stirring screenplay is a distempering mirror propped in front of us to acknowledge that a widespread calamity like Covid-19 is enough to unbosom all the divisions – class and financial differences. Anubhav subtly depicts the disparities and the blatant insensitivity connoted toward the marginalized. He tactfully incorporates real-life instances and ingeniously merges them with the plot. The characters and situations have been laid out in a way to make you uncomfortable and pensive. And quite rightly so!
For instance, Rajkummar Rao’s character, despite being a police officer, is constantly reminded of his caste identity. Whether it’s his senior asking him for his ‘full name’ or his love interest who belongs to an upper caste, he is always on the fence battling the pith of discrimination perpetuated on him by his reality and his surroundings. Another scene that makes you uncomfortable is seeing a security guard feels helped when he is accompanying his ailing brother and is denied basic necessities like food.
Thus, Bheed is collectively made up of several such powerful and overwhelming scenes. Certain moments will remind you of Anubhav Sinha’s earlier films like Article 14 and Mulk but overall this one stands firm on its legs despite attempts made to cripple it. There is also a dash of humor every now and then which relieves the simmering tension and compels you to chuckle but mostly it follows a very pragmatic pace from the outset.
The cast of the film is carefully curated by Anubhav Sinha and everyone plays their part well. Pankaj Kapur is at par excellence as Trivedi Babu. Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, and Ashutosh Rana add more punch with their innate skill of essaying simple characters. Kritika Kamra plays a convincing TV journalist and Dia Mirza, though her role is brief was able to pull off the character of an upper-class woman with ease. Another performance you should look out for is Aditya Shrivastava who proves his mettle by playing an impressive cop.
To sum it up, Bheed is a difficult movie to watch. Not because it’s poorly made but because it unravels a bleak chapter that nobody would like to revisit. Regardless, Anubhav Sinha’s movie tells a very important story that needed to be told and it surely stands out for its realism and the themes it explored in the course of its run.
