Anubhav Sinha, Rajkummar Rao's Bheed: COVID 19 lockdown that cuts across class conflict | First reaction

Rajkummar Rao's Bheed is more than just a film portraying the chaos of the COVID 19 lockdown.

Lachmi Deb Roy March 24, 2023 09:49:46 IST

Anubhav Sinha, Rajkummar Rao's Bheed: COVID 19 lockdown that cuts across class conflict | First reaction

No dance, no drama, but a true representation of the COVID lockdown situation with the right dose of humour. Bheed cuts across India’s class conflict. Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar essay the leads in this film. The film is engaging and the performances of the entire cast are brilliant. The film talks about migrant labourers who were going back to their hometowns during the time of lockdown because there was no job in the cities where they had once come with their families in the hope of a good life. The lockdown isolated the migrant labourers from their own country.

The year 2020 was a complete washout year for most of us as we were grappling to survive with salary cuts, job loss, schools closing and most importantly separation. Amidst all this mayhem, the worst hit were the migrant labourers. We at least had a roof over our heads. In a two-hour film, it wasn’t possible to cover the plight of the migrant labourers, but director Anubhav Sinha has brought it in front of our eyes those issues which probably we wouldn’t have realised then. The lockdown affected all the strata of our society. Bheed shows a mother played by Dia Mirza’s struggle to get her daughter back from the boarding school, a doctor (Bhumi Pednekar) as a frontline worker, and a policeman in charge of the UP border situation.

Anubhav Sinha took care of every minute detail in the film. Pankaj Kapoor who belongs to the Pandit community and works as a watchman in the city is desperate to go back to his hometown with his family members and others from the village. The kids and other villagers are starving and it is a real test of patience for them. There is no supply of food and water. Pankaj Kapoor refuses to take food from the Muslims who are trying to serve food to all. Struggle of the migrant workers is just one side of the story, Bheed highlights the social biases in our society.

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A young girl who works as a maid is cycling long distances by carrying his alcoholic father on the bicycle. The people are agitated and are hoping that there will be some help coming from the authorities. Surya (Rajkumar Rao), the duty-in-charge policeman is trying hard to control the situation at the UP border and he understands the sentiments of the migrant workers, but his hands are tied up by his duties. He even says that no one ever plans for the poor.

Anubhav Sinha has moved away from the bheed (crowd) to show the panic and uncertainty of the COVID-19 lockdown with some shocking visuals. The entire movie is in black and white to show the desperate gloomy situation with no light of hope!