Producer- Muktinath Upadhyaya

Directors- Rajan Kothari and Dayal Nihalani

Star Cast- Yashpal Sharma, Pratibha Sharma, Rajpal Yadav, K.K. Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Seema Pahwa, Asif Basra, Ravi Jhankal, Ayesha Raza Mishra, Jameel Khan, Sitaram Panchal ,Rajshri Deshpande and Pratik Rajan Kothari

Genre- Satire

OTT Platform- Cinemapreneur

SLICE OF LIFE FILM

Rating- ***

Jyothi Venkatesh

The film based on writer Shaiwal’s short story, Arth Tantra has myriad layers to it and brutally translates on to the screen the way corruption plays a very vital role in the lives of people, especially in the interiors where politics is mostly the governing factor. The title of the film refers to Karl Marx’s opus, which claims that every war in society is nothing but a conflict of the classes.

The film sets out to capture the inhumanity of the upper-class bureaucracy that desperately goes to any length to keep middle as well as lower-level officials under its heel. In the process, the film also explores critical issues that have plagued rural Bihar then and now – low income, poor medical facilities and the very deeply entrenched corruption

The film revolves around Nazir Purushottam (Yashpal Sharma), who is a lowly clerk in a small town, where he stays with his wife and two little sons. The treasury clerk finds himself caught between his corrupt seniors and his family to provide for and in the backdrop of a huge cast and class divide at the grassroot, Nazir Purshottam’s battle is for his and his family’s survival.

With corruption the order of the day, Nazir Purushottam is often at logger heads with his seniors, bureaucrats and politicians who want a pound of any enterprise that he undertakes. Nazir Purushottam decides to follow the dictum if you cannot beat your opponents, just join them in their game and decides to turn corrupt too in the Kafkaesque situation of a mofussil town in India where corruption is the only mode of survival.

While each and every actor impresses with his or her character effortlessly, whether it is Yashpal Sharma or for that matter his wife Pratibha Sharma, who play the protagonist couple or Jameel Khan who plays Nazir’s corrupt boss or for that matter Rajpal Yadav who shines in a small cameo role. Ravi Jhankal is good while Rajshri Deshpande has been wasted in a small role as a nurse where Nazir’s wife is admitted for treatment.

Pratik Rajan Kothari as the mentally retarded character in the village is awesome. Manoj Pahwa and Seema Pahwa leave an impact though their roles are not lengthy. Music by Amod Bhatt is soothingly melodious and soul stirring while Raghuvir Yadav, Swaroop Khan, Krishna Beuraa, Ajay Jayram & Pratibha Sharma have rendered the songs beautifully. Also mention ought to be made of Chandan Goswami who has done brilliant cinematography in a film which has been directed by cinematographer turned director Rajan Kothari.

On the whole, the film is a realistic and off beat film which tugs at your heart with its down to earth approach towards the stark to life characters which leaves you with a heartwarming feeling when you complete watching the slice to life film without any frills to pad it.