A promising thriller which begins well but somehow runs out of steam midway and limps to a rather didactic end!
Why is it promising?
For it starts off with all the ingredients of a riveting story! Vaishali Singh, a spunky local level journalist in Bihar who runs a one women show of a news channel along with an old partner who also is her cameraman and assistant. It is a story of unequal opponents- a young jounalist finding herself pitted against the unseeing eyes of the state and the open threats from hard core, seasoned criminals.
Why spunky?
For she dreams of making it big on the national scene and never gives up even when the menacing danger of criminals targeting her family members loom large. She begins to pursue a case of heinous sexual abuse and exploitation of minors and and girls at the local Munawwerpur Girls Shelter Home, being run under the aegis of the Government. And true to form, when there is government funding, there are many in the food chain, namely the director of the Home, Bansi Sahoo, a local politician with immense clout and his lewd staff.
Loosely based on the Muzafferpur Shelter Home scandal, which was brought to light by the report submitted by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in 2018, Bhakshak has the protagonist Vaishali take on an uneven battle with the well entrenched exploiters' gang. The plot revolves around how Vaishali manages to switch between her bouts of courage to press on regardless of the threats from the seasoned degenerate criminals, pressures from a perplexed husband and extended family to become the ideal home-bound wife and give up, moments of frustration and self doubt, and her dogged persistence to carry on in spite of all the odds.
The worst is when she finds her belief in a fair system shaken, specially when there is a silver lining to the dark cloud when a sympathetic lady SSP of Police is posted to the region but who also expresses the limitations of the system that demands due diligence before the culprits are apprehended. Vaishali's high hopes crumble in her face when the SSP tells her that it'll have to be she , herself who can bring justice to the voiceless victims!
Literally clutching at straws, Vaishali manages to turn the tide and the story which had distinct spikes of excitement, horror and hopelessness takes wing!
But that is where one has to criticise the director for taking the easy way out of leaving many questions unresolved and hastily closing the case. The connect with Sudha is introduced as a wild card, the actions and attitude of the SSP goes unquestioned, Sudha's escape from the home goes without comment, the behaviour of the convicted criminals especially the don Bansi will have you raise your eyebrows! Last but not the least is the didactic sermon that Vaishali hands out to the viewers for being Bhakshaks themselves. If leaving a moral was so important , maybe having a character voice it in the narrative would have been a better idea than having the protagonist's telling you, the viewer, off!
As for performances, Bhumi Pednekar checks in with a creditable performance but a little bit of spirit in her demeanour would have lifted her character to an inspiring level. Sanjay Mishra as the assistant to her is underplayed and maybe a little too controlled. Sai Tamhankar shines even though her role had its limitations. But it is Aditya Srivastava as Bansi Sahoo who delivers a convincing portrayal of a crafty, lecherous and exploitative villain who leaves a mark with his portrayal. He should be making it big soon!
Rating: 3.5/5
