Bhakshak 2024 Movie Review
A gut wrenching dark social crime drama that is much more than a mere movie and piece of art but a commentary on real evils in society that no one wants to hear about, think about or even do anything about. Bhumi Pednekar, Sanjay Mishra, Aditya Srivastav and Durgesh Kumar play their roles with such honesty and dedication that they have to be applauded for this solid effort.
This movie is so thought provoking and soul stirring that judging it on technical and entertainment elements of movie making is sinful. This is a movie which every father, every mother, every responsible and good human should watch and then think. Bhumi’s final monologue about the apathy of human beings in the current era of hashtags, towards the actual plight of the lesser privileged and often abused is the hardest hitting message of the movie. It is every decent and capable person’s responsibility to go beyond hashtags to feel for other humans and actually do something about it.
Bhumi does a terrific job as the brave reporter who has the courage to look herself in the eyes, feel ashamed about her ignorance and apathy towards helpless girls and then be brave enough to do something about it. Sanjay Mishra is brilliant as her cameraman, her support system and her partner in this tough battle against a blind, flawed and often corrupt system. Durgesh Kumar who you may remember as the annoying nemesis in Panchayat’s recent season is great as a brave and moral source for this fight for righteousness.
Aditya Srivastav does a fantastic job as the evil, immoral and filthy Bhakshak of the movie who evokes such intense levels of hate and disgust towards his character that can only be achieved by a masterful actor. The scene when he meets Bhumi’s reporter after she starts investigating him for committing ghastly acts against young girls is a masterclass in writing, acting and direction. It starts with Aditya’s character arriving to the table where only one cup of tea and biscuits have been served for him and not his visitors, showcases his poor values and malicious intent to demean and look down upon them. His own young daughter then approaches him with a prayer thali for his blessings. He boasts about his young daughter’s success and introduces Bhumi’s reporter as a brave journalist, showing his level of apathy, sociopathy, power induced feeling of superiority and lack of care towards others. A Brilliantly conceived, shot and acted scene.
The story is the soul of the movie, however Pulkit’s direction is the heart and conscience of the movie. The way he subtly, masterfully and sensitively tells an extremely dark tale without showing the brutality in this house of horror but still manage to evoke a strong and potent visceral reaction of disgust is commendable. The movie is certainly not an easy watch but it should definitely be on everyone’s watchlist.
The movie will hopefully move many people to care and stand up for their fellow humans who need help. Reviews, accolades and awards are fruitless and pointless for the movie if it isn’t able to move us to some real action. The movie was certainly not made to make money. It may or may not win awards and accolades. Its true measure of success is to make people think and try to become better…..At least give us courage to look ourselves in the eyes and hopefully see a good person.
