'Bastar: The Naxal Story' Movie REVIEW: Sudipto Sen Bravely Shows A Tale Of Naxal Terrorism, Adah Sharma's Neerja Madhavan Fights For The Tribal's Justice
Adah Sharma has yet again collaborated with director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah to share a story based on real-life incidents, let's see how Bastar: The Naxal Story fairs
Over the years, actress Adah Sharma has made a name for herself in the entertainment industry with her versatile performances. She has yet again collaborated with director Sudipto Sen and producer Vipul Amrutlal Shah to share a story based on real-life incidents. Bastar: The Naxal Story is based on real-life incidents and boasts of a stellar cast. The director has left no stone unturned to tell the story of how brave officials fight against the growing terror of the Naxals, a group of communists that support Moaist political sentiment, in the tribal areas of Chhattisgarh.
With a runtime of 124 minutes, the movie starts strong with news clippings and headlines of Naxal terrorism against the Tribal people of Bastar. The story starts with a court case against IPS Neerja Madhavan (Adah Sharma) and her affiliation with a local politician, played by Kishore Kadam. It is revealed by the prosecutor (Shilpa Shukla) that the army personnels are running an organization Salwa Judum, where they train villagers to fight against the Naxals. Shukla proudly announces to the court that the Madhavan is training goons to terrorise villagers, therefore dismissing the existence of Naxals.
As Adah's character is introduced, on the other hand, Maoists kidnap a bunch of villagers for hoisting the Indian flag instead of their red flag. As a lesson to the villagers, the head of the Maoist group Lanka Reddy (Vijay Krishna), kills one of the men. This becomes essential to the plot as the man's wife Ratna (Indira Tiwari) joins the Salwa Judum to avenge her husband's death and on the other hand, their son Raman (Naman Jain) gets recruited by the Maoists. The director has beautifully shot montage sequences of the journey the mother-son embark on as they train for their respective organizations.
While, a pregnant Neerja continues her fight against the Maoists, on the other hand, the Naxals keep on thriving due to influential people extending their support to them. With big names from various industries banding together, they fund the Naxal group and keep on demeaning Neerja and Salwa Judum.
Talking about the cinematography and storytelling, the makers have shown many gruesome action sequences that can make one recoil with shock and disgust. However, the climax of the film comes across as disappointing as the ‘villains’ meet a very dissatisfied death. The Naxal leaders that terrorised and murdered villagers and killed many Jawans without any mercy just died due to a bullet or two. It just feels like the leaders don't experience the full extent of the repercussions of exploiting innocent lives. Apart from this, the director has beautifully shot the film. The use of the background scores and the songs at the right time keep you engaged throughout the film. Another thing that is to be mentioned is that the director didn't compromise on the characters speaking different languages and dialects.
Apart from the ones mentioned above, Bastar: The Naxal Story stars powerful actors like Raima Sen, Anangsha Biswas, Yashpal Sharma, Purnendu Bhattacharya, Gopal Singh and many others who essay their roles with convictions. Personally, more than Adah Sharma, Biswas and Krishna’s portrayal of Laxmi and Lanka Reddy leave you hooked to the movie. The way they carry themselves, especially during violent scenes gives you goosebumps.
Adah might be the face of the movie but they were the true stars. Being the leading lady, it felt like Sharma lacked emotionally sometimes. While she effortlessly held a strong posture needed for an army officer, she couldn’t deliver the powerful dialogues that were supposed to move the audience. Her concluding statements, though powerfully written, she couldn’t deliver it with much conviction.
As a conclusion, Bastar: The Naxal Story is a good watch. However, if you are unaware of the actual happenings and birth of Naxals, do your research before going to watch the film as it directly throws you into a world of violence amid the beauty of Mother Nature. If you are not used to watching many action films, do prepare yourselves before going to watch the film.
Ratings: 3/5
Image Source: SpotboyE
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