By Grace Cyril: It’s hard to start a biopic like Zwigato from Applause Entertainment, which hits theaters today, March 17. However, the major drawback of the film is its pacing. Directed by Nandita Das, Zwigato follows the story of a food delivery rider who struggles with the world of ratings and algorithms. The highly topical film explores the lives of ‘ordinary people’. The plot of the story must have been very difficult and it promised from its trailer.
However, the delivery became overly preachy at times as you scratch your head at scenes where unnecessary political and religious drama is thrown in. Of course, Zwigato shows the plight of the delivery boys, but no emotions are felt. However, in pure Nandita Das fashion, where the film actually worked was the fact that there was no unnecessary melodrama. The struggles of a certain section of the society were shown in a very subtle manner.
Based in the city of Bhubaneswar in Odisha, Zwigato follows the life of Manas, a delivery boy played by Kapil Sharma. After losing his stable job as a factory floor supervisor during the Covid-19 pandemic, he tries to make ends meet as a food delivery boy. The film follows his daily life full of assessments, fines and chasing incentives to pull him out of financial trouble. Shahana Goswami, who plays his wife, does menial jobs like massaging in a rich man’s house.
Manas is seen zigzagging on his bike throughout the film, trying to deliver as much as he can. He takes selfies with customers to earn an extra 10 rupees, he forgets to rate the customers. After each delivery, he asks customers to rate him, and he worries when his ratings fall. His wife Pratima is happy but Manas is not happy that he is not able to support his family financially. At one point, he even says to her, “Abdu mujse ziyata kameki (will you earn more than me?).” Nandita Das portrays the life of a delivery man perfectly and it is clear that she has done a lot of research. This movie.
Watch the trailer of Zwigato here:
There are some heartwarming moments in Zwigato . For example, the scene where Manas laments, Woh majboor hai, is liye mazdoor hai,” (He is a laborer because he is helpless) ‘Wo mastur hai, liye majpur hai’ (He is helpless because he is helpless. A laborer).” In another scene, a poor laborer We see Manas begging if he can deliver his bike on a bicycle. A fine line of class and gender discrimination is depicted in Zwigato . At one point, even Manas exclaims, “Maalik dikhai nahin deta par ghulami poori hai.”
