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.
For a movie that talks about the power of the written word, little in Satish Kaushik s Kaagaz seems powerful or inspired. It is one of those by-the-numbers biopics that could have worked more if the writing was up to it. Watchable and well-intentioned, this Kaagaz is a story better told on paper. Jan 7, 2021 By Sreejith Mullappilly
Satish Kaushik s Kaagaz is based on the life of Lal Bihari Mritak, a farmer, who was declared dead on national government records even when alive. The movie begins with the usual disclaimer that says the circumstances and the names of the characters are changed for dramatization. That change even applies to the protagonist, Bihari Lal Mritak, played by Pankaj Tripathi. Unlike the real-life Bihari, the Tripathi character here is a band player and a businessman. Even his name is changed a little for some reason.
‘Kaagaz’ review: Pankaj Tripathi tries to rescue himself from the ranks of the living dead
Satish Kaushik’s comedy is out on Zee5. Pankaj Tripathi in Kaagaz (2021) | Salman Khan FIlms/Zee5
Satish Kaushik’s
Kaagaz explores a very Indian story: living people are declared dead by their relatives to deny them their share of the family property. In the Zee5 original film
Kaagaz, musician Bharat (Pankaj Tripathi) finds himself added to the ranks of the living dead by his family. Bharat runs around for years in search of a piece of paper that will confirm that he is a flesh-and-blood person rather than a corpse.
Kaagaz Review: A still from the film. (courtesy pankajtripathi )
Cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Sandeepa Dhar, Satish Kaushik, Mita Vashisht, Amar Upadhyay
Director: Satish Kaushik
Both Pankaj Tripathi and the dead-on-paper rural wedding bandmaster that he plays in
Kaagaz face an uphill task. The lead actor has to carry the weight of the entire film on his shoulders. He does so gamely, occasionally allowing his usual understated style to make way for a more demonstrative mode of acting. He pulls off the back-and-forth movement between the two poles without letting the strain show.
The problems that hobble Uttar Pradesh villager Bharat Lal, modelled on the real-life Lal Bihari Mritak, a man who had to fight tooth and nail for nearly two decades to prove that he is alive, aren t as easily resolved. The antagonist in