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Writer-director Pulkit’s Bhakshak begins on a decidedly dark note, foreshadowing the rest of the film and its events.
Actor Bhumi Pednekar’s Vaishali Singh (a journalist) receives a call from one of her trusted sources about a case she might be interested in reporting on. It is late at night, but Vaishali still puts on the helmet and reaches the venue, only to be turned away. But when the source insists, she ends up staying up all night, reading reports about minor girls who were being abused in a shelter home in Munnawarpur, Bihar.
The twist: The foster home is run by a powerful newspaper owner who has friends in high places. Vaishali wants to do his job honestly, but how would she approach the case? Both she and the public wonder. It turns out that sometimes all you need to get what you want is enough conviction and courage. And, of course, a feeling of relentlessness. Vaishali, a wonderfully developed character by writers Pulkit and Jyotsana Nath, possesses all of the above.
Bhumi (credit to her diction teacher, if any) absorbed the attitude of a small-time investigative journalist and the mannerisms of a ‘patnaite’ with seemingly surprising ease, making us believe that she actually grew up in the state. all of her ‘buzz(s)‘ were in place, and with a top-notch Sanjay Mishra to bounce things off of, the flow of the dialogues seemed organic.
As far as the subject is concerned, the film is apparently based on the Muzaffarpur shelter home rape case, in which Bihar MLA Brajesh Thakur and 11 others were sentenced to life imprisonment for sexually assaulting minor girls. However, the manufacturers are yet to confirm the same. The film only claims that the events depicted in it are inspired by real-life incidents.
This delicate issue has been handled with tremendous care by the filmmakers, who, although they do not shy away from drawing attention to the brutality of the crime, approach the subject with sensitivity.
Aditya Srivastava as Bansi Sahu was excellent. He brought corpulence to the table. A feeling of suffocation always seemed to be in the air, a sinister electricity, whenever he was in the frame, and the actor barely had to lift his finger to evoke those concerns. Special recognition to veteran and all-rounder Sanjay Mishra. The language and all its characters, of course, came naturally to him, considering that he is from Bihar. But it was a great pleasure to see him deliver those lines, like butter sliding down toast. Perfect cast.
The main complaint about Bhakshak remains its running time; The movie could have been shorter. It dragged slightly in the middle. However, it is definitely a unique watch. That camera piece at the end was special.
Also starring Sai Tamhankar and bankrolled by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment, Bhakshak is currently streaming on Netflix.