Keyur Seta
Mumbai, 31 May 2022 0:35 IST
The filmmaker proves his mettle yet again when it comes to hard-hitting cinema.
Filmmaker Devashish Makhija’s Cycle is a fictitious account of the disturbing reality of the life of tribal people in forests. But the film achieves realism to such a degree that it is difficult to believe it was all staged. It feels like a documentary that is capturing incidents as they happen.
In fact, after the film was screened at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) on 30 May, an individual asked the person representing the film whether it was actually staged. He couldn’t believe it when his question got an affirmative answer.
Cycle does not refer to the bicycle that we ride. It describes the struggles of the people living in forests and how the cycle of atrocities on them has been going on since time immemorial. The film is not story-orientated. It just offers a glimpse into the life in jungle areas dominated by the Naxals, as the left-wing extremist groups in these areas are called.
The film starts off with some brutal Naxals trying to get information out from a group of tribal people at night. They not only use violence but also rape to get the desired info. Cycle then cuts to the next day where a documentary filmmaker Faiza (Bhumika Dube) is filming the working of a group of Naxals.
The first scenario is captured in vertical format as if shot on a mobile. This, coupled with the constant shaking of the screen, succeeds in giving a feeling of fright. The second scenario, which is shot in the normal way, is also straight out of reality. The entire film gives a feeling of belonging to the found-footage genre though it isn't.
The performances of all the artistes — Jacky Bhavsar, Bhumisuta Das, Aashirwad Jha, Anjali Goyal, Muskan Maina, Mukesh Pachode, Vijay Patidar and Bhumika Dube — are a major factor for the film appearing like a documentary.
With Cycle, Makhija has once again proved his mettle when it comes to hard-hitting cinema.
Cycle was screened at the 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) on 30 May 2022.
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