Review
Dahaad, Kathal and Bheed
Watch all the three and then thank me.
The three have something in common - the protagonist in each
of them is a police officer belonging to a lower caste (as per the Indian caste
system still followed by many). Two of them are unmarried women.
Dahaad (Roar) is a thriller web-series. You will be binging on
this. Sonakshi Sinha has done a wonderful job as a protagonist. She plays a
police officer carrying the burden of two curses - being an unmarried woman in
a man’s world and belonging to a lower caste. I mention this because these
themes flow through the series like an undercurrent, making you constantly
aware of them.
But hats off to the psychopath serial killer played by Vijay
Verma. I think he has fine-tuned his ability to portray such characters.
That the story has been told impeccably and it portrays a
strong woman comes as no surprise because Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti are the
creators.
Looking forward to more such stories from this genre.
Kathal (Jackfruit) as a satirical comedy, shines. Sanya Malhotra plays the
police officer, unmarried in a man’s world, also belonging to a lower caste, has
really honed her acting skills. It’s a joy to watch her smile and catch
criminals and carry the movie on her shoulders.
An aside on the story: A fact that it is almost impossible
for a woman to marry someone above her caste even if she is a police officer. This officer makes sure that the constable boyfriend gets promoted to a sub-inspector so that the professional gap isn’t too huge. However, the inspector
is saddened by the fact that she has been promoted to DSP!!
The movie revolves delightfully around the disappearance of
two jackfruits (of a very high quality, or so it seems) from a politician’s
garden and trying to locate them and at no point does the movie’s plot seem banal. So who stole the jackfruits and why were so many girls disappearing?
Bheed (Crowd) is in black and white and one of the reasons why it
hits the senses hard. Yes, the lack of colour makes the story more poignant.
Rajkumar Rao plays the role of a policeman who (yes you guessed it!) belongs to
the lower caste. With a strong cast including Rajkumar, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj
Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, the movie delivers its message well and clear. The COVID
times are not easily forgotten. The pain and the helplessness of those walking
on the roads for days trying to reach Home and are shut out at the border by an unfeeling administration is portrayed expertly so that it hits the audience hard.
Anubhav Sinha has done a wonderful job trying to bring out
the layers of human emotions and drama when faced with the question of
survival.
