Bhakshak Review: In recent times, Hindi cinema has stepped into the socially relevant zone. Much like public service advertisements, films provoke debates on the many ills of our society. Director Pulkit – known for works like Maroon and Bose: Dead/Alive –returns with Bhakshak. Releasing on Netflix on February 9, the film revolves around orphan girls getting molested in a shelter home. One look at the film and you know that Pulkit’s movie may not be exactly novel. We have seen Indian cinema tackle subjects like this before.
However, what lifts the movie from the mundane are two superb performances, brought about by excellent casting. Bhumi Pednekar is fantastic as a journalist in a decrepit Bihar town. As Vaishali Singh, married for six years, she is under pressure from her sister and brother-in-law to have a child. Her husband is easygoing and lets his wife work, a journalistic passion that translates into breaking stories about society’s underbelly. When she comes across a home for abandoned girls where they are bruised (with burning cigarettes), battered, and raped by the man who runs the place, Bansi Sahu (Aditya Srivastav), her investigative juices begin to flow. Helping her is her cameraman, Bhaskar Sinha (Sanjay Mishra), who is equally adept at playing a sounding board for Vaishali although he is limited by an underwritten part.
At the very beginning, we know how the story would pan out, and this makes the plot look a tad uninteresting. Pulkit, who has co-written Bhakshak along with Jyotsana Nath, does not fill the story with enough meat. For instance, we know very little about Bhaskar outside his professional life. Another equally unimpressive character is a policewoman, Jasmeet Gaur (Sai Tamhankar). Sai appears ill-suited to play the part of an important cop in a small town. We know they wield a lot of power and influence, but she looks so washed out!
However, Pulkit beautifully captures the sounds and smells and the ambiance of a small town. His lead actress has no halo around her; she is a natural, playing a simple girl but with a fiery curiosity and dogged determination to right wrongs. And, virtually with no support in a town that not only tolerates but also encourages criminals, Vaishali crosses several obstacles with remarkable ease proving that small television channels play a big role in exposing a community’s weaknesses and evils.
