Kapil Sharma Inn zvigato, (courtesy: nanditadasofficial)
moldKapil Sharma and Shahana Goswami
Director: Nandita Das
Rating: three and a half stars (out of 5)
(Nandita Das’ zvigato It had its national premiere at the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala)
In tone and tenor, Nandita Das’ third directorial debut is a clear departure: a contemporary portrait of the gig economy and its pitfalls. However, in many ways zvigato is part of a creative continuum that began with FiraqA commentary on the communal riots of the millennium that shook Gujarat, and MantoA richly layered biopic that mirrors past and present times.
zvigatowhich had its national premiere as part of the Kaleidoscope Sidebar of the 27th International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK), addresses the pernicious impact of an unsustainable model of development on those who are either completely left out or only A minor permission has been granted. presence in its folds.
Produced by Applause Entertainment and Nandita Das Initiatives, zvigato Unveils the plight of a migrant couple struggling to make a living in the rapidly developing city of Bhubaneswar. The film doesn’t resort to pathetic methods to get its point across – the two lead characters are individuals who maintain their dignity despite the uncertainties surrounding them.
What zvigato Very well portrays the story of strife and struggle in a nation and a society that does not think of heaping humiliation on the marginalised.
The male protagonist is Manas Mahto (Kapil Sharma played in a role one would hardly believe was made for him), a food delivery boy who takes up the profession after losing his job as a factory floor supervisor. His self-crushing routine depends on numbers, time and ratings which, as Manas laments, have turned him into a machine.
His wife, Pratima (Shahana Goswami, who as always, gets into the skin of the character with minimal effort), who has to take care of her ailing mother along with their two children, does her best to ease matters. Does But it seems nothing is going right for her and her honest husband.
Manas doesn’t drink or smoke and is committed heart and soul to providing for his family in an economy that has invented ways to trap the likes of choice in a perpetual cycle of exploitation that puts the self-employed in the first place. may appear to be a means of , Whatever the work of Manas, it is evident in his constant battle to increase the numbers.
Manas Mahto is like everyone else like him – he wants to live an honest life in the face of never-ending challenges, but those who control the levers of economic power are reluctant to create a just system Which will give everyone a fair shot at finding their way out of financial instability.
Working for a food delivery app is akin to serving an invisible master who gnaws at riders’ sense of self-worth already severely undermined by their inability to secure more stable jobs. The government does not make things easy. its poorly publicized employment schemes – one of which gets repeated mention zvigato – Raise false hopes but deliver nothing further.
Malik does not show but slavery is complete, a desperate Manas tells fellow food delivery riders. in response to a placard reading He is a laborer only then he is helplesshe quips, He is helpless only then he is a labourer. He should know. They have left their home state of Jharkhand in search of greener pastures, but all they have found is a precarious existence on the brink of perpetual destitution.
It is not just the plight of migrants struggling to find a foothold in a foreign and indifferent environment zvigato deals with. It also touches on gender roles within a family – Pratima’s success in finding a job that brings in more money than Manas’ delivery rounds on a motorcycle indicates friction between the two.
The screenplay by Nandita Das and Samir Patil finds an angle in the context of caste and class prejudice, communal divide and corporate cynicism in Manas Mahto’s story. zvigato presents a sharply painted picture of progress that leaves large sections of the population behind as it tramples its hedonistic ways that allow some to enjoy the perks of their wealth without the slightest sense of responsibility towards them allows which they exploit and abuse.
zvigato There are three cameos that represent different faces of the situation on the ground for the likes of Manas Mahto and his wife. Swanand Kirkire is Govind Raj, a political activist who gives voice to the aspirations of the oppressed working class.
Gul Panag plays the marketing head of an electric motorcycle company that promises to help food delivery boys get rid of high fuel costs. and Sayani Gupta transforms into an unbreakable being in a single scene zvigato The Zonal Head who flies in from Kolkata gives Manas a hearing which ends badly.
In one scene, Pratima, who is an occasional masseuse, moves into a highrise apartment. As she is about to approach the lift, a woman with a dog instructs her to use the service lift. The dog pet is clearly better off than the statue: He has access to the main elevator because that’s who it belongs to. It is no wonder that housing complexes prohibit the use of lifts by delivery boys.
In a society where discrimination is normal, is it any wonder that a food delivery boy named Aslam hesitates to step foot in the temple from where he has received the order? zvigato The script also factors in a relevant footnote about another Muslim boy, a student leader, who lives in fear of police cases that might be foisted on him to intimidate him into giving up the path of dissent.
All this, and much more, is woven into that simple but unmistakably relevant picture. zvigato Shades of a world where the poor and vulnerable are not given any chance to improve their lot in a meaningful way.
pace and rhythm of zvigato hinges on the flow of life that it portends. But unlike a food delivery boy whose future depends heavily on pleasing customers and getting five-star ratings in this line of work, Nandita Das doesn’t sugar-coat the film’s central message.
She refrains from grandeur and unnecessary flourishing. With the production design on point, the ambience of Bhubaneswar captured to perfection and the cinematography by Ranjan Palit giving the inner and outer worlds of the migrant hero the angularity it needs, zvigato hits home with equal measures of power and compassion.
