200 women barge into a courthouse building and hack a dreaded criminal into pieces and vanish in moments. A true incident that happened in Nagpur in August of 2004. An incident that shocked the police, the administration and the media. Director #SarthakDasgupta chooses to tell the story of this gruesome incident from a post-facto perspective. The actual incident happens in the first few minutes of the film and is almost a blink-and-you-miss sequence. Wonder why the writers chose to take this perspective on the narrative?
The remote can now be pickled. Pass_Me_The_Remote reviews #200HallaBol streaming now on #ZEE5. #SarthakDasgupta and his co-writers #AbhijitDas and #Soumyajit address an issue that is often swept under the carpet in Indian cinema - the matter of caste politics. The victim is one Akku Yadav; he was a notorious gangster who harassed women physically and mentally in the locality for over a decade. These women were Dalit and had no recourse to justice.
Veteran actor #AmolPalekar at 76 years plays a former Dalit judge ( Vithal Dangle) who is tasked with leading the enquiry commission. He is torn between a lifetime of professional excellence where he did not allow where a person was born to intervene in the matter of ensuring legal justice to him. Palekar is brilliant as he showcases the turmoil within ; plenty of soliloquy as he stands in front of the photograph of Dr Ambedkar.
In spite of its absurd sounding name, #200HallaBol has a gripping quality about it and keeps you hooked, especially in the first half. #RinkuRajguru plays Asha Surve, a woman who returns to the locality and is instrumental in exposing the wrongdoings. There are some inconsistencies and half-sketched tracks as well. For example, why the women are rallied into action on the strength of Surve’s clarion call is not explained. Similarly, the history between Surve and the young lawyer, Umesh Joshi (#BarunSobti) is a tad unnecessary. #UpendraLimaye is cast as the leering sub-inspector and he pulls it off well. The cast includes #IndraneilSengupta as well as #SahilKhattar as Balli Chaudhary. #SushmaDeshpande plays the role of the unofficial leader of the women and #SaloniBatra is competent as the investigative journalist Poorna Swahney.
The film exposes the stark elephant in the room - the idea of caste as well as the exploitation of women. “It’s not just these accused who rapes a woman; it’s our mindsets that rapes them, it’s our numbness towards these heinous crimes that’s most disturbing,” Vithal Dangle sums up his arguments with the above words. Watch #200HallaBol to see how #AmolPalekar brings gravitas, sensitivity and finesse to a role that is beautifully delivered.
