Bhakshak Review: Promising Start, Disappointing Execution

Based on true events in an underage girls shelter home in small town Bihar, Bhakshak starts out fabulously as we are introduced to the shady shelter home, which is nothing but a quasi brothel run by a politically connected bigwig (Aditya Srivastava).

Bhumi Pednekar plays Vaishali Singh, an investigative journalist for a local news channel, who tries to unearth the ugly truth after a tip off. The setting as well as the premise looks quite promising initially but gradually, the film gets utterly lethargic and downright boring.

Worse, some of the subplots like the cook, who narrates her ordeal in the shelter house, appears too convenient to be true. A supposedly tough female cop (Sai Tamhankar) is introduced late in the narrative and you expect a solid punch from her but this character is just whiled away as just another "system se haari hui" type. Also, that added patriarchal 'tadka' on Vaishali's domestic front serves no real purpose.

Bhumi Pednekar, always a fine actor, loves to take on challenging roles but here, she is let down by some rather inconsistent writing. Aditya Srivastava is assuredly good as the main villain. His character needed more gravitas though!! Sanjay Mishra is wasted. Gulista Alija as the caretaker Baby Rani, is impressive. The rest of cast just about passes muster.

Despite tackling a socially relevant topic, Bhakshak doesn't keep you hooked till the end. It starts off superbly but then just dips and dithers... that's quite sad as the subject had tremendous potential for a highly engaging crime thriller. Wasted opportunity!!

Ratings on some key aspects* :
1. Acting : 3.5/5
2. Direction : 2/5
3. Music : 2/5
4. Story, Screenplay and Dialogue : 2/5
5. Cinematography : 3/5
6. Editing : 2.5/5
7. Costume Design : 2/5
8. Special Effects and VFX : NA
9. Action : NA
10. Production Quality : 3/5

#SNRating for #Bhakshak : 2 stars out of 5.

- Sumeet Nadkarni

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* - The overall film rating is not a simple average of all ratings on key aspects but a weighted average of the ratings where some crucial aspects (like direction, acting, story and screenplay etc) are assigned more weightage than others.

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#SNRatings barometer:
1 star = Poor
1 & 1/2 star = Below average/ Avoidable
2 stars = Average
2 & 1/2 stars = Above average/ Risk it
3 stars = Good enough/ Endurable
3 & 1/2 stars = Definitely worth a watch
4 stars = Very good
5 stars = Masterpiece/ Outstanding.

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