Express News Service
Two details at the start of Kaagaz instantly turned me off. First, we hear the voice of Salman Khan (the film’s producer) deliver the narration replaced, quickly and inexplicably, by the voice of Satish Kaushik (also the film’s director). Then comes village scenes straight out of a government broadcast. It’s ample indication that, despite its unique plot, Kaagaz will take the most obvious route to tell it.
Bharat Lal (Pankaj Tripathi) is an ordinary band master in Amilo, UP. At his wife’s urging, he agrees to get a loan on his ancestral land, only to discover that his relatives have declared him dead on official records.
Kaagaz review: Great story marred by stereotypes Pankaj Tripathi shines in this mediocre drama
Monday 11 January 2021
Director Pankaj Tripathi, Satish Kaushik, Monal Gajjar, Mita Vashisht, Brijendra Kala, Pranay Narayan
The film begins with touching lines philosophizing how kaagaz (paper) can be a kite in the sky, a boat in water, and the reason for wars all over the world.
Lal Bihari (Pankaj Tripathi) runs a thriving musical band business in his village. We see his sensitivity when he releases the trapped mouse from his shop with ardent requests to not bother him again.
When Wife Rukmini (Monal Gajjar) encourages him to take a loan and expand the business, Lal Bihari reluctantly agrees. It’s during this process of taking a loan that he discovers his relatives have declared him dead and usurped his ancestral property.
INDIA New England News
BY VINAYAK CHAKRAVORTY
The merits of Pankaj Tripathi’s new outing are dwarfed by the cliches that the film fails to resist. It is something that prevents Kaagaz from living up to the potential its storyline had promised.
Tripathi, one of Bollywood’s most incredible success stories in recent years, continues with his glorious run as an actor in the OTT domain, this time returning with a starring role in Satish Kaushik’s new directorial. Among the film’s advantages is also the fact that the plot draws from an intriguing true story. The fact that writer-director Kaushik tries giving his tale of blatant corruption a satirical spin would only seem to add to its credence.
âKaagazâ is a biopic of a man declared dead on paper (by unscrupulous relatives out to usurp his property), who struggles against all forces to be declared âaliveâ again so that he can take a loan to expand his businessâhe plays a wedding band. This man, Bharat Lal (Pankaj Tripathi), lives in the Azamgarh district of Uttar Pradesh and has a humble income but is happy with his loving wife (M. Monal Gajjar) and son and his decent income.
When he discovers what has been done by his relatives, he fights tooth and nail against the âsystem,â refusing to give up, come what may. He is ridiculed, taunted, insulted, even beaten physically, he exhausts all his savings and sacrifices his livelihood but to no avail. He even tries to take to crime or legally punishable activities like offending a judge (Brijendra Kala) to get himself arrested so that his name is documented down on paper as an accused. Finally, he even forms an âAll-Indiaâ association o