Zwigato #picksandpiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #InternationalFilmFestivalCircuit #JohnsonThomas

#picksandpiques #FilmMovieDocumentaryReviews #internationalFilmFestivalCircuit #JohnsonThomas Bollywood Film Review Johnson Thomas A poignant ode to middle class struggles Film: Zwigato Cast: Kapil Sharma, Shahana Goswami Director: Nandita Das Rating: * * * Runtime: 105 mins

Set in Bhubaneshwar, during the post pandemic period, Nandita Das’s film navigates through a middle class family’s resilient efforts to eke out a living at a time when most people were shunted out of their jobs. Manas( Kapil Sharma), who loses his job as a floor manager at a factory, and stayed unemployed for several months, takes up a gig as a delivery guy for a food delivery app ‘Zwigato.’ With an ailing mother, a wife and two kids to feed, there’s obviously not much savings left. The delivery job has an incentive based payment structure and everything is done through the app. Manas, being a fossil in terms of technology takes the help and advice of his kids to get cracking at a bonus based return but the app defeats him at every turn. His wife Pratima (Shahana Goswami), a homemaker is also attempting to find a secondary source of income by doing odd jobs and enrolling as cleaning staff at a mall.Throughout the narrative there are references to a govt scheme that represents hope for people struggling to gain employment. But the scheme is like a elusive dream. Manas too falls prey to fake news and sets out in search for this potential silver lining.

The narrative unpretentiously and subtly plays out the travails of the family as they make all efforts to adjust and adapt to the new reality precipitated by poor governance and trigger happy decision making by the authorities. Das’s narrative unaffectedly focuses on the resilience and fortitude that the family displays during these trying times. As the stresses of post-pandemic gig work start to take a toll on Manas, he is forced to put aside his old-fashioned patriarchal ideas and make room for class and hierarchical changes that it brings about in his life.

‘Zwigato’ holds a mirror to society pointing out the frailities of the gig economy and exposing its effects on the lower middle class who have hopped on to it for a ‘survival’ daily wage. This is a class of people who have huge numbers but no voice as they are too busy struggling to survive. Das also touches upon the side effects of digitisation showing us how we as a society turn a blind eye to the struggles of the lower middle class. The narrative suffers from a rather lax pace and lack of tension. By focusing on a single family’s travails Das inadvertently makes this an exclusive tale instead of an inclusive one. The camerawork is fitting and performances are earnest and believable though. Johnsont307@gmail.com