Since the trailer of Anubhav Sinha's upcoming film Bheed was dropped online, netizens have been calling it an 'anti-India' movie as the political drama film compares the struggle faced by common people during the Covid-19 induced lockdown in 2020 to the Indian partition in 1947. Twitter claimed that the film is trying to showcase India in a bad light.
Pankaj Kapur, who stars in the film alongside Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Dia Mirza, Kritika Kamra, Aditya Srivastava, and Ashutosh Rana among others, in a recent interview, slammed such people and asked them to reserve their judgements till they watch Bheed.
Talking to indianexpress.com, the veteran actor said, "You must realise that in our society, which is what you’ll also see in our film, that before a drop of rain happens, people will announce monsoons. We are so impatient and opinionated. Instead of being patient and saying, ‘Ok, let’s reflect upon what is happening’, we jump the gun. You can opine, but first watch the film?".
The actor even stated that Bheed is an analytical film and not a political one. "It’s ridiculous that one small teaser… And you start saying it’s a political film. It’s an analytical film that talks about the mindset of our society, how we think, how we reflect to a given situation! Very few films have shown authorities in a positive sense, the way this film has shown. Anubhav has come up with a fine balance. He has chosen an instance and built a story around it. It’s not saying good, bad or ugly. It’s just showing you that this is how our minds work".
In one of the scenes shown in the trailer, Pankaj's character refuses to take food from Muslim people, accusing them of spreading "Corona Jihad", a term that was coined after the Tablighi Jamaat controversy. Reacting to that dialogue, Kapur said to the portal, "Once you see the film, you’ll realise it has been dealt with differently. He (Sinha) has used this now as a thought that did exist, but there’s also another thought that’s been incorporated in the film. Which when you’ll see will make you realise that human beings, at the end of the day, are all the same."
READ | Anubhav Sinha reveals why he decided to shoot Bheed entirely in black and white
Previously, Anubhav Sinha has directed social dramas such as Mulk, Thappad, and Article 15. Shot entirely in black and white, his next film Bheed releases in cinemas on March 24.
