India Lockdown Review: Madhur Bhandarkar’s film reminded us of the lockdown, what a day those days were!

Weekend Film: If you did not see Madhur Bhandarkar’s style in Babli Bouncer, then watch his India Lockdown. In the film, stories have been woven keeping the lives of five characters of Mumbai at the center, in which the truth will be seen. You will also see something that will make you think twice before trusting it. The film has been released on the OTT platform G5.

Madhur Bhandarkar Film: The theme of India Lockdown is something you would expect from director Madhur Bhandarkar’s films. After a long time, instead of wandering here and there, he has kept his hand on the pulse of his time and has been successful to some extent in speaking. 

The lockdown imposed in the country during the Corona period is such an event, which people will fondly remember for many years to come. Every household has its own story related to the lockdown and they too have no less stories, which have been rendered homeless by this lockdown. 

Those who walk for many days and weeks carrying their house on their shoulders for miles. They will not be able to forget it for the rest of their life. Madhur’s India Lockdown focuses on five people on the same days, showing their parallel lives. Although three characters in it come from almost upper class, whose life was not directly affected by Corona or the lockdown on a large scale, the film shows their personal life here.

Variation of lockdown

Madhur has told the story of Mumbai in India Lockdown. On one side there is the world of prostitute Mehru (Shweta Prasad Basu) and Madhav (Prateik Babbar), a roadside chaat vendor. As soon as the lockdown started, whose livelihood was lost. 

On the other side are Nageswara Rao (Prakash Belawadi), Moon Alves (Aahana Kumra) and Dev (Satwik Bhatia), who live in posh flats of the multi-story building. Their problems are personal. Madhur has kept balance in all the stories and avoided excessive drama. 

It has been their endeavor to present only the truth in their own style. Although the stories of all the characters seem familiar, the way Madhur showed the life of prostitute girls in Kamathipura, surprises me. Here he has created some such scenes, which will prevent those who cut the lockdown with the family from watching this film with the family. 

However, apart from the track of one of the main characters, Prakash Belawadi, Madhur has threaded threads of sex in the remaining four stories. Due to this, the diversity of India Lockdown has been lost and this thing does not allow the film to fly high.

Silver Lining

In the film, Mehru lies to her mother living in the village that she is a nurse in a hospital in Mumbai. In this track, Tipu (Sanand Verma), a pimp, deals with teenage Titli (Chahat Tevani) to an influential person, which will fetch him a good amount of money during the lockdown. 

Madhur tells through Mehru that the poor did not lose their humanity even in difficult times. Whereas some of those from whom humanity was expected, did not lag behind in brutality. Similarly, the long journey of Madhav, his wife Phoolmati (Sai ​​Tamhankar) and two children during the lockdown melts the heart. Pratik touches the heart in some scenes with his acting. Madhur has combined the story of Nageswara Rao with the story of Madhav-Phulmati, but it also looks a bit filmy.

Tales of a metropolis

The story of Aahana Kumra, Satwik Bhatia and Zareen Shihab perfectly reflects Modern India. This is a face of Mumbai. However, in this story, Madhur has tied the relationship with the thread of morality. While generally, he does not let his cinema be affected by such things. 

There is no doubt that India Lockdown is much better than Madhur’s previous film Babli Bouncer. This is a matter of relief for his fans. These are stories of a metropolis and they do not include the whole of India. Despite this, the film brings us back to those days. The work of all the actors is good but Prakash Belawadi shines apart, while he does not have the support of any other artist in his story. 

Aahana Kumra has played her character well and Satwik Bhatia’s smile attracts. Shweta Prasad Basu is undoubtedly the boldest and the most different one here. You will not be able to ignore them. If you want to see a glimpse of the lockdown days without the drama, then this film by Madhur Bhandarkar will not disappoint.

Director: Madhur Bhandarkar

Stars: Prateik Babbar, Shweta Prasad Basu, Sai Tamhankar, Prakash Belawadi, Aahana Kumra, Satwik Bhatia, Sanand Verma

Rating ***