Sinha’s tale on Covid-19’s migrant crisis hits you hard
Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj Kapur, Dia Mirza, Ashutosh Rana, Aditya Shrivastava, Kritika Kamra Anubhav Sinha
The powerful line, “Ghar se nikal kar gaye the, ghar se hi aa rahe hain aur ghar hi jaa rahe hain” uttered by a migrant worker in Anubhav Sinha’s Bheed leaves a lasting impact on you. The film is a raw and honest portrayal of the struggles faced by thousands of migrants during the pandemic, which was followed by a nationwide lockdown declared on March 24, 2020, and state borders sealed to contain the spread of the virus. Many migrants who had moved to urban areas in search of work were left with no option but to return to their villages, leading to mass migration. Bheed isa poignant reminder of the stark realities faced by the most vulnerable sections of society during times of crisis.
Shot in black and white, Sinha’s movie doesn’t let you breathe. If anything, it chokes you, leaving a lump in your throat at several gutwrenching scenes. He shows no restraint in depicting the workers’ anguish and plight. The shocking images of migrants sleeping on railway tracks and being run over by trains, families walking for miles barefoot with bleeding toes and wounded soles, hungry children crying and being thrashed by their helpless mothers, a helpless watchman attempting to arrange food, people hiding in cement mixer trucks, a bus full of Muslims feeding their own and everyone else, but still being cornered and called names. Even though Sinha doesn’t resort to blood or gore in the shocking scenes, you still feel the impact and jolt. The movie highlights and fights more inner demons and societal biases than the struggles of these migrants, who walked for days and nights wishing to reach their homes in times of crisis. Some did make it, while others breathed their last on the way or met with fatal accidents.
Bheed tells us the story of Surya Kumar Singh Tikas (Rajkummar Rao), a young cop assigned to a checkpoint at one of the state borders that is now closed. He is madly in love with Renu Sharma (Bhumi Pednekar), a doctor who is currently treating symptomatic patients stuck at the checkpoint. There’s Singh saab (Aditya Shrivastava), who is Rao’s subordinate but clearly doesn’t want to obey orders. Among the migrants on the other side of the barricade, there’s Dia Mirza from the privileged class in her chauffer-driven Fortuner, who doesn’t flinch an eyelid when the driver Kanhaiya (Sushil Pandey) offers to bribe the cops to let them cross the border. Then there’s Trivedi Babu (Pankaj Kapur), who just wants to help his sick brother and the other bus passengers get some food from a nearby closed mall. He insists that he will not steal but will pay for it. Amid all this, Vidhi Tripathi (Kritika Kamra) as a TV journalist is covering all this from angles that she can see or, at times, through her cameraman Nasir Munir’s lens.
At 114 minutes, the movie neither wastes time building the premise nor its core characters. I have to give credit to the director for convincingly introducing each character to us without delving too deeply into their backstory while still telling us enough.The story that Sinha has co-written with Saumya Tiwari and Sonali Jain manages to keep you intrigued while imparting the most crucial aspects of the mass migration. It’s the writing, I feel, that’s the true winner. There are dialogues cleverly peppered with underlined sarcasm that you can’t miss. “Hamara nyaay hamari aukaat se bahut bahar hai” or “Gareeb aadmi ke liye kabhi intezaam nahin hota” are some lines that hit you hard.
However, some portions did appear unwanted for the whole plot. For instance, I didn’t understand the context of ingesting a raunchy lovemaking scene between Rao and Pednekar. Then, you sense the constant hammering on the caste bias in our society, with Rao’s character being targeted by everyone. And why weren’t the cops wearing masks?
Story aside, some really nuanced performances make Bheed a great watch. I won’t be exaggerating if I term it one of the finest ensemble castings in recent times. Rao and Pednekar are in top form with their dialect, body language, confidence and the way they emote on screen. Their strength and vulnerability both touch you. Mirza looked flawless in her portrayal of a flawed character; Kapur is exceptional and captivates you with his brilliance in each frame. Ashutosh Rana and Shrivastava add gravitas to the narrative with heavyweight dialogues and their expressions. Kamra’s track started off as a narrator and had pivotal pieces to join initially, but eventually doesn’t get much scope to shine or leave an impact.
Overall, Bheed states the facts as they are and doesn’t try to lace them with anything fancy or unreal. Watch it!