India Lockdown Review: Movie does have moments that will touch your heart and remind you of the helplessness of the time
India Lockdown Movie Rating: 2.5 Stars
Finally watched India Lockdown movie on Zee5 Premium. Let’s focus on the complete details, story, positive/negatives and at last my personal view on this movie.
Cast: Shweta Basu Prasad, Aahana Kumra, Prateik Babbar, Sai Tamhankar and Prakash Belawadi
Director: Madhur Bhandarkar
Release Date: 2nd December 2022 on Zee5 Premium
Story: Movie is about the Coronavirus lockdown and the sufferings of the Indians during that time. Nageshwar Rao (Prakash Belawadi) stays alone in a highrise in Mumbai along with his pet dog, Bruno. He is all set to fly to Hyderabad to be with his pregnant daughter Swati (Hrishitaa Bhatt). Due to the lockdown, his plans go kaput as all flights are suspended.
Days before the lockdown imposition, Nageshwar had asked his maid Phoolmati (Saie Tamhankar) to stop coming to his house since the society had barred entry of servants. He gives her two months’ salary in advance, though. But it’s not enough for her and her husband Madhav Prakash (Prateik Babbar) who runs a chaat stall. During the lockdown, their financial situation deteriorates. Madhav learns that some people from his slum, who are also from Bihar, are all set to go back to their hometowns on foot. He decides to join them along with Phoolmati and his two children.
Mehrunissa (Shweta Basu Prasad) is a prostitute in a red-light area in Mumbai. Since Covid spreads through contact, her work suffers. On the advice of her pimp Tipu (Saanand Verma) she decides to go for phone sex and charge customers for it. Lastly, Dev (Satvik Bhatia) is a student and has shifted to his uncle’s place after his uncle went to Himachal. He and his girlfriend Palak (Zarin Shihab) plan to lose their virginity in the former’s house.
Their plans also get cancelled due to the lockdown imposition. Palak’s father, meanwhile, is very strict and doesn’t allow her to leave the house at all. He strikes up a friendship with his neighbour Moon Alves (Aahana Kumra) who is a pilot and gets attracted to him. What happens next and how they sustain in this toughest time is all about this movie.
Positives
1. Excellent Performances
2. Direction
3. Screenplay
4. Climax
Negatives
1. Music
2. Length
3. Unnecessary sub-plots
4. Predictable Story
Durgesh Tiwary’s View: When I watched the trailer of this film planned to watch this movie on premiere day as trailer looks interesting and based on real time incidents.
The movie deals with the repercussions of COVID-19 lockdown in India and how the people of the country struggled through it. Film showcases four parallel stories of a father-daughter duo stuck in different cities, a sex worker and her troubles, a migrant worker with bare resources and a pilot.
More than 2 years after the first countrywide lockdown in India have come up with a compilation of stories that are real and relatable. It’s a rather simplistic take and a micro approach to what happened during the pandemic in the lives of people across social strata. Most of what these characters go through is inspired from real events, hence, one can identify with their situation. The story is largely predictable and also filled with quite a few cliches in terms of its characterizations. It also gives a bit of an incomplete feeling, and one wishes they had shown a little bit more about Covid-related problems, especially the ones faced by the medical community.
Direction is good and focuses on some not-so-known aspects that might have taken place during the pandemic. For instance, the manner in which the politician roams around in an ambulance so that no one will stop his vehicle is quite amusing. Performances are outstanding by all-star casts and the nail-biting moments in the climax are worth watching. Overall, movie rests on some fine performances and moments that will touch your heart and remind you of the helplessness of the time. In the end, the fact that you can watch this film and perhaps see yourself in one of its characters, is a rewarding feeling of being alive. My view on this movie Time Pass.
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