IN ALL of his recent films, Anubhav Sinha has tried to tackle India’s complex sociopolitical issues. His movies tend to be loud and direct, often crossing the line of being preachy. Bheed is no different. The movie is shot in the style of a documentary, with both wide frames and close-up shots, and attempts to bring out issues of caste, class, money, privilege and failure of a system, all in the background of a blocked check post—used as a microcosm of India—during the first lockdown to curb COVID-19. And while the director is fearless in his approach and has tackled the issues headon, a lot of depth and emotions are lost in an attempt to cover too many aspects.
Nearly the entire film portrays the events of a day, 13 days after the beginning of the first lockdown, when “migrants” are returning to their villages from cities that could never become their home even after they had spent decades living there. It depicts a monolithic system where desperate and clueless “migrants” are on one end, and a bunch of equally clueless bureaucrats on the other, with neither having an idea as to how the problem will ultimately be resolved. It steadily builds different characters and converges them to a tipping point, generating a certain curiosity about how it will all go down. This is one thing Bheed does well— establishing the confusion witnessed during the lockdown.
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In leading role again
MOVIES AND WEB SERIES ARE ONCE AGAIN BEING SET IN RUSTIC BACKGROUNDS, INDICATING A RECONNECT BETWEEN CINEMA AND THE COUNTRYSIDE
One Nation One Subscription comes at a huge cost
As top US universities scrap big deals with top scientific publishers, India’s ONOS scheme seems flawed and outdated
Return of Rambhog
Bid to revive and sell the aromatic indigenous paddy variety has led to substantial profits for farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Terai region
Scarred by mining
Natural springs of Kashmir drying up due to illegal riverbed mining
Human-to-human spread a mutation away
CANADA IN mid-November confirmed its first human case of avian influenza, with a teenager in the British Columbia being hospitalised after contracting the H5N1 virus that causes the disease. The patient developed a severe form of the disease, also called bird flu, and had respiratory issues. There was no known cause of transmission.
True rehabilitation
Residents of Madhya Pradesh's Kakdi village take relocation as an opportunity to undertake afforestation, develop sustainable practices
INESCAPABLE THREAT
Chemical pollution is the most underrated and underreported risk of the 21st century that threatens all species and regions
THAT NIGHT, 40 YEARS AGO
Bhopal gas disaster is a tragedy that people continue to face
A JOKE, INDEED
A CONFERENCE OF IRRESPONSIBLE PARTIES THAT CREATED AN OPTICAL ILLUSION TO THE REALITY OF A NEW CLIMATE
THINGS FALL APART
THE WORLD HAS MADE PROGRESS IN MITIGATING EMISSIONS AND ADAPTING TO CLIMATE IMPACTS. BUT THE PROGRESS REMAINS GROSSLY INADEQUATE
