'Zwigato,' 'Bheed': Hindi films that deserved better reception in 2023
In the tsunami of films that are released every year, there are only a few that earn the spotlight and walk away with all the accolades. The rest, usually mid-budget ones/art films/the ones not led by major superstars find themselves ignored, berated, and eventually, forgotten. This year, too, several movies deserved more audience support but fizzled out too soon. Take a look.
'Zwigato' (Not yet on streaming)
With Nandita Das's Zwigato, Kapil Sharma proved that he cannot simply be caged by the label of a comedian, and he can portray pathos and melancholy just as effortlessly as he can elicit laughs. He played a food delivery executive in this reflective commentary on the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Shahana Goswami joining in as his wife, playing a working woman.
'Bheed' (Streaming on Netflix)
In an ideal world, audiences would have flocked to the theaters to watch Anubhav Sinha's piercing, monochrome film Bheed, which essayed the harrowing experiences of people, especially migrant workers, during the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The film, however, simply came and went, and what's worse, it was entangled in controversies for "marring the image of the central government." Sigh.
'Joram' (Not yet on streaming)
Manoj Bajpayee's recent offering (and his third release of 2023), Joram is a socio-political commentary about modern-day India disguised as a thriller. With Bajpayee at the front and center as Dasru, a tribal man from Jharkhand, Joram is the story of a ceaseless fight against the system and a war cry against ruthless corporate development that uproots human beings in its wake.
'Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai' (Streaming on ZEE5)
Billed as one of Bajpayee's career-best performances (and he has many!), Sirf Ek Bandaa Kaafi Hai featured him as a lawyer who fights for a minor rape survivor. That the film was inspired by a real-life incident further raised the stakes and Bajpayee was a one-man show in this. The courtroom drama worked so well digitally that it was slated for a theatrical premiere.
'Mission Raniganj' (Streaming on Netflix)
Mission Raniganj is slightly different from the other films mentioned on this list because it was headlined by a bonafide superstar (Akshay Kumar) and yet sunk at the box office miserably. However, unlike Kumar's recent releases like Samrat Prithviraj and Ram Setu, Mission Raniganj is thrilling and pulsating for the most part, and its well-executed climax successfully eclipses its formulaic narrative.
