Bastar The Naxal Story (2024) :
Movie Review -
This Atrociously Brutal Film on Maoism Is Not For Weak-Hearted People
Bastar The Naxal Story Review: After the success of The Kerala Story, director Sudipto Sen brings another hard-hitting film, Bastar The Naxal Story. Based on Maoism and the apprehensions they created in Bastar, the movie takes you into a brutal and violent world of terrorists, nationalists, and communists. This kind of filmmaking isn't very common in India or Bollywood, like it has been in Western countries since the 1920s. The French, German, and Hollywood film industries have done well and have been appreciated even with their propaganda films just because they went atrociously real and cruel with the graphical violence and verbal speeches in their movies. Why can't Bollywood attempt the same now? Sudipto Sen seems to have been inspired by this question, and he is here to give you an answer. The Kerala Story was dumb but hard-hitting. Here, Bastar is not dumb, and it is more brutal than The Kerala Story.
As we know, the film is based on the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. IPS officer Neerja (Adah Sharma) wants to finish maoism and naxalism in Bastar, which has been eating nationalism in our country since 1967. She is expecting a baby but still won't stop at nothing, as the fight against naxalism is bigger than her personal joy. Neerja has to fight government officials, politicians, leftists, the media, JNU activists, and the entire ecosystem that's standing against her and the country. Of course, it's not an easy job. The rest of the film follows her journey as she takes several CRPF jawans, cops, and a few locals whose lives have been affected by Maoists over the years.
You can't wave India's flag in India-that's totally crap. But that's the reality of Bastar. Not just Bastar, but many Maoist places in India. This movie introduces you to disturbing facts that might shatter your sense of socialism. A big salute to Sudipto Sen for showing the guts to make a film that may be indigestible to many, especially leftists. You really need the guts to speak on communism, maoism, Laal Salaam, government, leftists, liberals, and even mentio Maoist organisations from Russia, China, and other Asian countries. It doesn't matter if CBFC has removed a word like "JNU," which has a very important role here in this film. Nevertheless, the expressive anger and outburst took care of the entire "idea" without mentioning the name. The film has some unbearable scenes of violence and killing that aren't watchable for weak-hearted people. You need a stomach-no, you need balls-to watch this movie, or else you might leave the theatre midway.
Adah Sharma starts off in rocket-fire mode, and that bindass dialogue delivery really wins you over. As the screenplay tries to become dramatic, using her pregnancy as a tool for melodramatic music, the character also loses some of its charm. Afterwards, it's a mid-show until she reaches the high point of that speech. Even that speech has a bad screenplay setup. It just looked like the scenes were created only to give her a chance to make that speech. I mean, you can't just walk out of a judicial inquiry. Indira has done well, and so has Yashpal Sharma. He really walked away with one of the most gutsy dialogues in the film. Vijay Krishna, Shilpa Shukla, Raima Sen, Anangsha Biswas, Subrat Datta, Kishore Kadam, and others have been decent in their roles.
The camera work in Bastar is really nice, as Ragul Dharuman handles the camera carefully in those forest shots. However, some close-ups aren't captured well. Dev Rao Jadhav edited the film very nicely and made a gripping tale within 2 hours. There is not a moment to look away. It's that tight. And what brutalism! Really close to cannibalism. Bishakh Jyoti's music doesn't help much, but Vande Veeram is really a painful song to watch (as a homage to martyrs). Vipul Amrutlal Shah has produced a film that many yellow-hearted people wouldn't have dared to make, so kudos for that. However, the film drags a little in the last quarter to lose well-built momentum. Sudipto Sen has really come a long way from The Kerala Story, as this one needed extra cruelty and truculentness, and he gave it all. It's just that we can't help but get disturbed by the graphical violence of the film, even if it's true. As a whole, Bastar The Naxal Story is a hard-hitting tale, but it misses a few points here and there.
RATING - 5/10*
This Atrociously Brutal Film on Maoism Is Not For Weak-Hearted People
Bastar The Naxal Story Review: After the success of The Kerala Story, director Sudipto Sen brings another hard-hitting film, Bastar The Naxal Story. Based on Maoism and the apprehensions they created in Bastar, the movie takes you into a brutal and violent world of terrorists, nationalists, and communists. This kind of filmmaking isn't very common in India or Bollywood, like it has been in Western countries since the 1920s. The French, German, and Hollywood film industries have done well and have been appreciated even with their propaganda films just because they went atrociously real and cruel with the graphical violence and verbal speeches in their movies. Why can't Bollywood attempt the same now? Sudipto Sen seems to have been inspired by this question, and he is here to give you an answer. The Kerala Story was dumb but hard-hitting. Here, Bastar is not dumb, and it is more brutal than The Kerala Story.
As we know, the film is based on the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in the Bastar district of Chhattisgarh. IPS officer Neerja (Adah Sharma) wants to finish maoism and naxalism in Bastar, which has been eating nationalism in our country since 1967. She is expecting a baby but still won't stop at nothing, as the fight against naxalism is bigger than her personal joy. Neerja has to fight government officials, politicians, leftists, the media, JNU activists, and the entire ecosystem that's standing against her and the country. Of course, it's not an easy job. The rest of the film follows her journey as she takes several CRPF jawans, cops, and a few locals whose lives have been affected by Maoists over the years.
You can't wave India's flag in India-that's totally crap. But that's the reality of Bastar. Not just Bastar, but many Maoist places in India. This movie introduces you to disturbing facts that might shatter your sense of socialism. A big salute to Sudipto Sen for showing the guts to make a film that may be indigestible to many, especially leftists. You really need the guts to speak on communism, maoism, Laal Salaam, government, leftists, liberals, and even mentio Maoist organisations from Russia, China, and other Asian countries. It doesn't matter if CBFC has removed a word like "JNU," which has a very important role here in this film. Nevertheless, the expressive anger and outburst took care of the entire "idea" without mentioning the name. The film has some unbearable scenes of violence and killing that aren't watchable for weak-hearted people. You need a stomach-no, you need balls-to watch this movie, or else you might leave the theatre midway.
Adah Sharma starts off in rocket-fire mode, and that bindass dialogue delivery really wins you over. As the screenplay tries to become dramatic, using her pregnancy as a tool for melodramatic music, the character also loses some of its charm. Afterwards, it's a mid-show until she reaches the high point of that speech. Even that speech has a bad screenplay setup. It just looked like the scenes were created only to give her a chance to make that speech. I mean, you can't just walk out of a judicial inquiry. Indira has done well, and so has Yashpal Sharma. He really walked away with one of the most gutsy dialogues in the film. Vijay Krishna, Shilpa Shukla, Raima Sen, Anangsha Biswas, Subrat Datta, Kishore Kadam, and others have been decent in their roles.
The camera work in Bastar is really nice, as Ragul Dharuman handles the camera carefully in those forest shots. However, some close-ups aren't captured well. Dev Rao Jadhav edited the film very nicely and made a gripping tale within 2 hours. There is not a moment to look away. It's that tight. And what brutalism! Really close to cannibalism. Bishakh Jyoti's music doesn't help much, but Vande Veeram is really a painful song to watch (as a homage to martyrs). Vipul Amrutlal Shah has produced a film that many yellow-hearted people wouldn't have dared to make, so kudos for that. However, the film drags a little in the last quarter to lose well-built momentum. Sudipto Sen has really come a long way from The Kerala Story, as this one needed extra cruelty and truculentness, and he gave it all. It's just that we can't help but get disturbed by the graphical violence of the film, even if it's true. As a whole, Bastar The Naxal Story is a hard-hitting tale, but it misses a few points here and there.
RATING - 5/10*