Cast: Shweta Basu Prasad, Prateik Babbar, Aahana Kumra, Sai Tamhankar, Prakash Belawadi
Directed by : Madhur Bhandarkar
I think no one can forget the evening of March 24, 2020, when a nationwide lockdown was announced for 21 days after the outbreak of Covid-19. Almost three years later, director Madhur Bhandarkar‘s film — India Lockdown — takes you back to those dark times and makes an earnest attempt to recreate the horrors that everyone felt in different ways with the outbreak of the pandemic. With four parallel stories detailing different aspects of human emotions and dilemmas, the film doesn’t give you much time to think. Despite being a cinematic recreation of the aftermath of the country’s first and subsequent lockdowns, India Lockdown keeps things essentially real without adding melodramatic twists.
Everyone becoming a home cook, trying out new recipes every day, young couples fretting about not being able to go on dates, long lines outside grocery stores, mandatory health check-ups and home quarantine, reluctance to wear masks – Bhandarkar picks out various elements and narrates their stories with small details. For two hours, the film is brisk and does not needlessly run between plots. And the absence of any song or dance sequence is just a bonus.
More than the story and screenplay, what wins India Lockdown is its cast and the fine acting of each of the actors. Of all the stories the film touched on, my favorite ones are the ones about migrants and sex workers and how it adversely affected their lives when it dealt with only minimal resources for survival.
The track with migrant couple Madhav and Phoolmati (Prateik Babbar and Sai Tamhankar) with two young daughters will break your heart. The havoc that the lockdown has wreaked on this section of society is beyond the imagination of the common man. The heartbreaking scenes of him walking miles every day in the sweltering heat, sometimes without food or water, will leave you with a lump in your throat. Babbar emotes his role so well and is moved by the pain his character goes through. There’s a sequence where Babbar is rummaging through a pile of garbage looking for some food – it’s just so depressing. Tamhankar is also very strong and convincing. Stay tuned with Aanworld for latest updates regarding India lockdown movie.
