Compelling premise and plot
THE story, written by Pulkit and Jyotsana Nath, centres on Vaishali Singh (Bhumi Pednekar), an investigative journalist who works tirelessly to uncover the truth about a government-funded shelter for girls and the sexual abuse that take place in the small town of Munnawarpur, in Bihar.
Singh and cameraman Bhaskar Sinha (Sanjay Mishra) run a small news channel, Koshish News, that is struggling to increase its viewership.
They discover startling information as they continue their research into Bansi Sahu (Aditya Srivastava), the shelter’s owner and the mastermind behind the atrocities and abuse.
Pednekar’s character faces several challenges in her attempt to expose the scam, including runs-ins with child welfare officials and police officers, but she is tenacious in her resistance and doesn’t give up her fight. As the main antagonist of the movie, Sahu is the epitome of evil. Srivastava, who consistently projects a positive image in television and movies, makes an excellent antagonist.
Bhakshak (meaning predator) is a gripping crime thriller with a compelling premise and plot. At some point, the film begins to meander, straying from the crime and on to the more pressing concerns of reporting it and dealing with the system. The screenplay and plot are executed well generally but there is room for improvement.
You can tell from the first sequence of Bhakshak that it won’t be an easy watch. It’s eerie, unsettling and upsetting. Although the film avoids using blatantly graphic imagery to make an impression, there are allusions made through heartbreaking scenes and dialogue that highlight the seriousness of the crime.
When you learn that it is based on actual occurrences, the awful spectacle becomes more unnerving. The events in Bhakshak’s storyline are based on real-life happenings at a shelter in Muzaffarpur where girls were sexually abused.
The story is handled with restraint by director Pulkit who rejects sensationalism in favour of sincerity. There could have been more impactful scenes to introduce the shock factor.
The film, however, does a fair job of setting the tone when it comes to the parts of the shelter that make viewers feel uneasy. Like Singh, Pednekar excels, sincerely capturing the editorial voice of the movie.
Srivastava provides great assistance to the screenplay, while Mishra contributes his seasoned wit and needed comic relief with just enough humour to avoid trivialising how the events play out.
Despite having strong performers and a timely message, the movie’s execution comes across as clichéd and uninspired. An important problem like this must be told with a sense of urgency and perhaps even terror, yet these elements are absent from the narrative. We see little about the victims, but the story focuses a great deal on the offenders, giving them plenty of screen time to demonstrate how horrible they are.
Everybody has been impressed with Pednekar’s film choices since her debut in Hindi cinema. By refusing to follow the beaten path in movies, she has shown her commitment to strong storytelling, and once again demonstrated her versatility as an actor.
It was nice to see something more grounded, considering the recent blockbuster successes of Hindi films that encourage viewers to leave their minds at home.
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