The attraction of the famous Chitrakoot Falls of Chhattisgarh took me to Bastar, Dantewada, and Jagdalpur about 15 years ago. These areas south of Raipur are miles away from development, but after seeing the mountains of iron ore in the iron mines built in this area, it was understood that the Naxal problem in these areas is somewhat real and created by some corporate houses. A few big families do not want to allow other families to come to these areas for business. The tribals of the area hold their land, land, and forest dearly. This is Abujhmad. There are so many legends about it that it could turn into an action thriller. There were long discussions with Vipul Shah on the geographical structure of this place. But, at the bottom of these discussions, a story is growing that will target the entire 'Left' and will show the connection of Naxalites operating in the forests of Dandakaranya with ISIS, Lashkar-e-Toiba, LTTE, and other terrorist organizations of the world. Even thinking this was like bringing a far-fetched dream.
A new entry in the trio of ‘The Kerala Story’
The film ‘Bastar The Naxal Story’ is another attempt to rewrite history. In their previous film 'The Kerala Story', producer Vipul Shah and director Sudipto Sen made a blockbuster film based on the case study of some Hindu girls who were the targets of love jihad. The performance of Ada Sharma as well as other actresses in the film was impressive and the film did well at the box office. This time too all three together have tried to create something similar, but this time the entire story is based on just one case study, and this time Ada Sharma is not even a victim. Since the story is about the oppression of tribals, this time Indira Tiwari is at the center of the story. Indira is from Bhopal. Her height is like the girls of Central India. And, his resemblance with the main character of the story, Ratna Kashyap, also suits him well. In this story of Ratna, her husband, and two children Raman and Rama, the character of IPS Neerja Madhavan keeps coming and going. Like a case going on in the Supreme Court.
The purpose of the film in the end credits
The objective of both the films ‘The Kerala Story’ and ‘Bastar The Naxal Story’ is the same. First, after the country became a republic, the miscreants were seen gaining courage during the rule of a particular political party. And second, to glorify the efforts made in the last few years to suppress these miscreants. The film ‘Bastar The Naxal Story’ tells after its epilogue that tourism in Bastar has increased by 80 percent in the last five years. However, the truth is that the film itself was not shot in Bastar but according to director Sudipto Sen, it was shot in the forests of Maharashtra. At the time of the film, Ada Sharma's character was Neerja Mathur, by the time of its release it became Neerja Madhavan. The conflict between the filmmakers regarding Mathur and Madhavan is visible in the entire making of this film. There might have been a similar dilemma in showing the film to influencers before film critics.
A weak script put the story at a crossroads
Both Ada Sharma and Indira Tiwari performed brilliantly in the film, but the film's script moving in four directions simultaneously weakens the impact of their acting. Amidst the story of an IPS officer being suspended in the Supreme Court and the FIR lodged against two social workers being cancelled, comes the story of Ratna's husband being brutally killed for hoisting the tricolor. People from terrorist organizations from all over the world reach Bastar to meet the Naxalites. The evidence of the help of Naxalites against fake social workers does not reach from Bastar to Delhi. IPS Madhavan is pregnant. Ratna Salwa has joined Judum and her son has joined the Naxalite gang. Had the script been written properly based on a good story, this film could have been informative as well as emotionally effective. The main weakness of the film is its fast-paced script and the excessive inclusion of information in it. The film shows less and tells more. The excess of violence also seems unnecessary in some places, like a child being thrown into a burning fire.
Ada Sharma's best performance
The film 'Bastar The Naxal Story' has become worth watching mainly because of its two lead actresses Ada Sharma and Indira Tiwari. Ada Sharma's character is inspired by a male IPS officer posted in Chhattisgarh. The story of her oppression during the Congress rule has been brought on screen through this character of Ada Sharma. This IPS has also been abused a lot by an artist who looks like P Chidambaram. Perhaps the writer forgot to include the mention of Ada Sharma's pregnancy somewhere else in the script after stopping while climbing Jeena. References to it keep coming up, but the emotional tempo that should have been created about it is not created. Despite this, Ada has lived her character well and has maintained her edge even in the dialogues written for her.
Indira Tiwari the real heroine of the film
But, if we look at the formula of the hero or heroine who kills the villain, the main heroine of the film is Indira Tiwari. Indira gained weight for this character and also worked hard to portray herself in this character. However, the emotional scenes of both Ada and Indira have become weak in the film. Madhavan losing his child could have been the tent pole point of the film, and the scene of Ratna and his son pointing guns at each other could also have been the most emotionally charged scene of the film. The scene in which Lanka Reddy is killed is gruesome, but if the close-up of Indira's face had shown her anger and her revenge, the effect would have been different. There are many opportunities ahead for Indira in Hindi cinema, she will have to be very careful in select her characters.
Where did the film go wrong?
Among the rest of the cast of the film 'Bastar The Naxal Story', Shilpa Shukla and Yashpal Sharma have performed impressively in their roles of lawyers. Raima Sen's acting was ineffective. The background of the characters of Subrata Dutta, Anagna Biswas, and Kishore Kadam could have been created. Cinematographer Ragul Dharuman did not do any surprising experiments in the cinematography of the jungles, even though he had plenty of opportunities for it. The editing of the film is also not flawless. ‘Vande Veeram’ is the high point of its songs and music. Along with a good story, Amar Nath Jha has also written good songs as per the story. Visakh Jyoti gave good support to the film in terms of music, although the background music is quite loud. The surprising thing in this film, which has been made by combining many incidents in a single timeline, is that apart from Kashmir, there is still a part of the country where hoisting the tricolor is so difficult. And, if this is so, then it cannot be considered inappropriate to deploy not only CRPF but also the Indian Army there!.
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