Kaagaz Review: Pankaj Tripathi Comes Out As An Absolute Star In This Story Of A Common Man And His Battle Against The Flawed System
Starring Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role of a dead man alive, Kaagaz is based on the true story of a farmer, Lal Bihari Mritak.
Directed by Satish Kaushik, Kaagaz is a beautiful film about a man’s fight to prove to the world that he is not dead, as the government papers declare so. Starring Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role of a dead man alive, Kaagaz is based on the true story of a farmer, Lal Bihari ‘Mritak’. The film opens with a beautiful poem on ‘kaagaz’, written by Aseem Ahmed Abbasi, and narrated by Salman Khan, who is also presenting the film.
Watch the trailer here:
The story is set in 1977 in Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh. Here, we are introduced to the character of Bharat Lal, who runs a garage band from a small shop. He, with his troop, play for local events like marriage functions. A situation arises due to which his wife Rukmini (Monal Gajjar) advises him to take a loan from the bank to expand his business. Bharat Lal is shown as a very caring and calm fellow, and we immediately connect with his character.
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While applying for a loan, the bank asks him to get a collateral. He considers putting his ancestral land as the collateral. For this, he visits his uncle and his family in a nearby village, where he discovers that they had bribed a government officer to declare Bharat Lal dead in government records. They had done so to take up his share of the land for their own. This sends him in a shock and his cousins threaten him to leave or they ‘won’t hesitate to kill a man who is already dead for the law’.
After this, we see some hilarious scenes of him organizing his own condolence meet. There are some hilarious dialogues too, like when people don’t want to sit with him, they say, “Tum achhut nahi, tum bhoot ho.” The dialogues of the film are very well written. They fit the scenes perfectly while also giving us the sense of the situation. We also see scenes of Bharat Lal with his wife Rukmini. The actors, despite coming together for the first time, display a very convincing chemistry between them.
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Now begins his legal battles, where he writes letters to authorities as big as the Prime Minister. The fun loving man starts to gradually give in to his stressful situation. The legal writings go on for 3 years, where he is also unable to pay attention to his pregnant wife. Monal Gajjar has played her part very well as Rukmini.
After his daughter is born, he faces another conflict, thinking that his daughter’s father’s name will be that of a dead man on paper. This conflict gives him a new strength to fight his battles. He then approaches a lawyer – Sadhuram Kevat (Satish Kaushik). Kevat shows him that he is not alone who faces this issue, there are a lot many people who have been declared dead in records but are alive. This also includes a reformed dacoit. Kevat ensures him that he will try his best to give him justice but also advises him to give up the fight.
Bharat Lal, declining to give up, goes home to his wife and says that he has received a ray of hope from the lawyer. Here, the background music is really nice and makes us feel hopeful about his situation too. Then we see a song, Bailgadi, sung by the celebrated duo Udit Narayan and Alka Yagnik. It is a beautiful song that describes the loving relationship between Bharat and Rukmini.
Later, due to his legal battles and its fees, he’s forced to shut his shop and even his wife starts advising him to give up the battle. But he does something brave in an MLA rally, which helps him get the media’s attention. The reporter who gets his attention, Sonia (Neha Chauhan), supports him in his battle. After this, the lawyer Sadhuram Kevat informs Bharat that the reformed dacoit passed away. He also satirically says that when he was against the law, he was alive but when he left the crime of life, he faced death in the records.
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The story then progresses to 1985, when Bharat is still thinking about what the lawyer Kevat had said to him. Following it, he kidnaps his cousin’s son, thinking that they will file an FIR and this could help him prove that he is alive in the law’s records. After kidnapping, he also tries other ways of getting an FIR but all in vain.
In 1986, he goes to the MLA Asharfi (Mita Vashisht) and on her advice, gives himself a suffix – ‘Mritak’. The other ‘Mritaks’ approach him and he forms an association of the living dead. Here we see a vidhayak (Amar Upadhyay) make an appearance. He has joined hands with Bharat’s cousins and aims to foil Bharat’s plans.
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The story progresses to 1987, where the reporter Sonia spreads Bharat’s story internationally. The lawyer Kevat gives him an idea of getting his wife the widow’s pension scheme from the government. What happens in the government office for the pension upsets Rukmini and after an argument, she leaves with her kids. Now, Bharat is left alone to fight his battles. From fighting an election to creating a scene in front of the government, Bharat fights many more wars to win. His journey is certainly worth watching.
Satish Kaushik has written and directed the film very well. Every scene of the film is perfectly placed and the screenplay is structured nicely. From Bharat’s silent battles to his loud ones, the director captures everything perfectly in perfect tones.
Monal Gajjar has played her part brilliantly. Rukmini’s monologues, her expressions, and her frustration through it all, have been portrayed by her perfectly. Also, Mita Vashisht and Amar Upadhyay have acted their parts well and convincingly.
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Pankaj Tripathi comes out as an absolute star! This movie just proves that he deserves more lead roles. He fits into the character of Bharat flawlessly! His calm demeanour, his voice, his mannerisms are all spot-on. His is the best and the most convincing performance. When you see him on the screen, you forget that he is an actor, you just think he is Bharat Lal ‘Mritak’ who is going through a huge crisis. Pankaj Tripathi may have just given his career-best performance in Kaagaz. It certainly feels good to have a film where we can put most of our attention on Pankaj Tripathi.
Watch this brave journey of Bharat Lal in Kaagaz on ZEE5.
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