‘India Lockdown’ movie review: Madhur Bhandarkar paints stories of the pandemic spirit, with broad strokes and a tinge of dark humour

The poster of Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘India Lockdown’

His scripts might read like a draft of news features, but Madhur Bhandarkar has always had an eye to read the human drama between the lines. He not only looks at bright spots, but focuses on shadows as well. The pandemic has provided him with a fertile ground to probe human behaviour at a time when the social animal was chained by a virus for almost two years. So, after bouncing us with some peppy stuff, the director returns to his core competence by weaving a string of compelling ideas from the time when India was under lockdown.

As always, he seems to have picked strands that we all came across in newspapers and observed in our neighbourhood, and has injected them with flesh, blood and some dark humour.

Mehru, a sex worker, has suddenly become jobless because of social distancing. Two lovers keen to lose their virginity cannot meet because of the lockdown. There is a retired father who wants to be with his pregnant daughter at the time of delivery, but has been rendered helpless by COVID. Then there are daily wagers, hawkers and housemaids who are more concerned by the visible penury and hunger, than the invisible virus.

Madhur’s treatment of subjects is usually high-pitched and he paints his scenarios with broad strokes, but here, he has roped in a cast of competent actors to convey what is not there on the page.

Prakash Belwadi is absolutely relatable as the aged Narayan Rao who takes all the necessary precautions, but is flummoxed by the neighbour who is throwing caution to the winds. Shweta Basu Prasad imbues life to the spirited Mehru who is game to go digital to remain in business. The most poignant strand is that of hawker Prakash and his housemaid wife Phoolmati who have decided to walk back to their village in Bihar. While Sai Tamhankar immerses herself into the character, Prateik Babbar remains largely unconvincing, diluting the impact. Similarly, the hormonal rush of lovers and the distraction provided by a pilot (Ahana Kumra) add more froth than substance.

Unlike some anthologies which focus on the rise of the human spirit during a disaster, Madhur seeks to underline that, fundamentally, human behaviour doesn’t change even during a crisis. Along the way, he opens a window to human depravity that is more lethal that the virus. An elderly man lusts over Phoolmati, a local leader uses an ambulance to satisfy his perversion, and Narayan’s neighbour feels that her husband has found a way to flirt with his colleague by working from home. But then circumstances threaten to dehumanise Prakash and make Mehru see the change that he could not become; it is an interesting study that is livened by some pungent lines.

Overall, Madhur hasn’t exactly touched a raw nerve, but he is almost there.

India Lockdown is currently streaming on ZEE5