Pankaj Tripathi has been having a massive year and he’s not stopping anytime soon. Presented by Salman Khan, Kaagaz is Pankaj Tripathi’s latest film directed by Satish Kaushik. This is a biographical film based on the life of Lal Bihari played by Pankaj Tripathi, a farmer from Uttar Pradesh who has been declared dead on Government records. This movie follows his plight of being declared dead on official papers by his relatives in order to take his share of the property. Shocked by this devastating discovery Lal Bihari starts an 18 year-long fight to prove his existence which includes him going to every extent possible including having his own funeral procession for a piece of paper to say that he’s alive.
Our corrupt system exposed some more
Through the painful ordeal of Lal Bihari, we see the extent to which a common man has to go to in order to get justice through the so-called system. While this story took place in 1975 and 1994 and seems outdated in some sense, yet its heart is in the right place to try and highlight the corruption that is still very prevalent.
What you expect is what you get
Kaagaz isn’t exciting or very engaging. While you will definitely be able to sympathize with Lal Bihari’s cause, the storytelling is not powerful enough to keep you engrossed throughout the film. The layering is very simplistic and doesn’t explore the characters to their potential.
Pankaj Tripathi’s magic wasn’t enough
While Pankaj Tripathi did a good job with the acting, you could tell that he was in his comfort zone with the character. However, just acting alone couldn’t make this film any better than it is. Monal Gajjar plays Pankaj’s wife Rukmani with absolute conviction. Her performance is very believable and overall she does a good job.
WATCH OR NOT:
If you love Pankaj Tripathi’s work then this is definitely something you should watch. It will also make a good weekend watch if you have nothing else to watch.
