Exposes the pluses during the pandemic – Beyond Bollywood

Though a murder mystery, writer Charulata, director Pratik Moitro’s film draws your attention to opportunism in tragic times. Rucha Inamdar, Nisha Dhar score few pluses with their intense acts.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️?  (2.5 / 5)

By Mayur Lookhar

A largely vaccinated world today wants to forget the devastating Covid-19 pandemic as a nightmare. Now comes a Hindi film that is set in the backdrop of the pandemic. Why? People would chide. After all, who wants to recall the terrible times from 2020 to mid-2022?  Amidst the mass suffering, one often loses sight of how some also turned the pandemic into an opportunity.

Writer Charulata Moitro, and her director brother Pratik faced some tough times during the pandemic. Fortunately, their afflicted dear ones survived. The duo though was alarmed by the chaos around the pandemic. It compelled them to tell a celluloid story. The Moitro siblings cleverly make their point via a murder mystery in Nagpur.

Titled Minus 31 – The Nagpur Files [2023], their film is purely a work of fiction. Minus is a local slang with 31 being the Nagpuri RTO code.  At first, we thought that the duo added ‘files’ to the title keeping in with the successful trend – The Tashkent Files [2019], The Kashmir Files [2022]. As it turns out, this is no aping. The ‘Files’ here tell a story of its own.

Dayanand Pandey [Rajesh Sharma], a local Nagpuri businessman is murdered. Senior Inspector Preksha Sharma [Rucha Inamdar] is in charge of the case. Interestingly, the prime suspect is also named Preksha [Nisha Dhar], who has been missing since Dayanand was found dead. The suspect was later found to be close to the deceased’s brother-in-law Guddu [Santosh Juvekar].

A murder case during peak pandemic. Phew, who would want to be a policeman? We recollect a viral video few years ago where a little boy cried, pleaded to his cop father to not go outside as there is Corona. It moved many, and there was great respect towards police, medical professionals, sanitation workers, all who braved their life to save crores of civilians.

Moitro’s film wasn’t shot in pandemic. However, without it, there wouldn’t be any Nagpur Files in Minus 31. The early environment is one of fear, but soon Preksha Sharma seems totally unconcerned about the pandemic. She even braves to enter a hotspot to interrogate the suspect’s friend Sandeep [Kaam Bhari].  The mask is put on or taken off at will which then takes away the fear of the pandemic. 

After a wobbly start, Minus 31 builds momentum and it continues for a fairly long period before the pre-climax proves to be a dampener. In any murder mystery, the killer’s identity is an all-important part. The poorly scripted/ acted scene is a minus for Minus 31. Then the subsequent event may shock you but it’s better to be practical than live in any fictional world. A minus multiplied by minus is equal to a positive. We see something same here, except that it is positive for an individual but not for the society. Pratik and Charulata’s practical approach though helps to bring out the uncomfortable reality of the pandemic. It’s not against any particular entity per se, but the slum dwellers in Nagpur beating their steel plates is hard to ignore. To be fair to the Moitros, they are merely exposing the ‘pluses’ during the pandemic.

The screenplay has its pros and cons, but Minus 31 is likable for the performance of its two protagonists. Rucha Inamdar has been around for few years, but playing a lead in a socially relevant film is a plus in her career. She justifies her director’s faith in her with a commendable performance. Preksha Sharma is a righteous cop but one who often acts on an impulse. It naturally makes her prone to errors, emotional reaction. Inamdar finely exhibits that vulnerability of her character.

Like a privileged Bollywood star, she too has a slight husk in her tone. It works perfectly for the Nagpuri cop character. Unlike the Bollywood stars, Rucha chucks glamour for a more natural cop avtaar, and backs it up with the requisite intensity.   She is challenged on the work front. She has her challenges at home too. Preksha is the daughter of a former cop Anupam Sharma [Raghubir Yadav] whose impetuosity cost him one hand, and his job.   Anupam is always in her daughter’s ears. For a heavily diabetic patient, Anupam shocks you with his liking for chocolates, which he often hides in his pocket. Phew, with the pandemic around, isn’t such sweet craving suicidal? The senior Sharma though confines himself to his humble house, where ants/insects roam around Preksha’s books.

Preksha shares a bittersweet relationship with her father. Jeez, there’s even a scene where she pushes her raging father. The daughter isn’t afraid to raise her voice but seconds later, she sheds few tears and wraps herself in her father’s arms. Preksha simply seeks a better life, a better house for her father and her. Raghubir Yadav and Rucha Inamdar share an excellent chemistry with the duo feeding off each other’s energy.

Preksha has a tough time in dealing with her reporting officer Rahi Shirke [Jaya Bhattacharya]. There’s no sisterhood here as Shirke doesn’t rate her junior much. Shirke chiding ‘chutiya aurat’ (foolish lady) to Preksha in front of everyone naturally stuns the junior. As berating as it is, but this scene also has its humour. Jeez, how do we smile when the joke is not on us.

Nisha Dhar leaves a strong impression as the other Preksha in the film. Preksha Meshram is a lowborn living in a Nagpur slum. Her mother spent over 20 years working for Dayanand Pandey. She has carried that family tradition more out of her economic woes than any passion. Hip Hop that is her true passion with the young girl harboring big dreams.  Rap also serves as a catharsis to her miserable life and the social injustice, class / caste divide around her. No empathy per se, but this is a classic vulnerable character. 

They share the same [character] name. and in some way, Preksha Sharma experiences similar frustration to Preksha Meshram. The latter uses rap to exhibit emotional catharsis. Preksha Sharma has nothing to fall back upon. She finds some solace in the company of the bald, alcoholic forensic expert Gautam [Shivankit Singh Parihar].  It appears that we could be set for a Preksha versus Preksha contest but the subsequent revelations lead to an altogether different saga.

Pratik Moitro envisaged his Meshram along the lines of Rooney Mara’s junkie techie avtaar in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [2011]. Incredibly, that is how the Minus 31 idea took birth. Nisha Dhar imbibes the physicality of Mara, but she plays Preksha Meshram the desi way, rather her way. 

Moitro’s leading ladies may not be eye candy, but they shine purely through their talent, grit and determination. 

As often Santosh Juvekar delights us with his noisy, grey characters. His verbal volley with Preksha Sharma is amusing. Guddu might flaunt his privilege, but he is no match to Preksha.

Hip Hop serves as a great tool to hammer home the social injustice, class divide which only widened during the pandemic. Kunal Pandagale aka Kaam Bhari is a popular rapper on social media. He makes his debut as an actor in a pivotal role. He finds out why rapping is much easier than acting.

Largely shot in the night, Minus 31 does throw up some fine cinematography. The BGM is refreshing. One is curious by the sound of bird in a few night sequences. The creative liberty in sound design is welcome. Though Hip Hop is an intriguing element of the plot, but the few tracks only play briefly in the background. Jaativad, the rap by Krantikari [female rapper] in end credits is an absolute killer.

Minus 31 [2023] scores few pluses – mainly its two leading protagonists and the larger social cause. Then it gets few minuses due to some dull moments in its screenplay, not building adequate atmosphere of fear in a pandemic. A minus and a plus always leads to a negative in mathematics. However, a film is always full of pluses and minuses.  Minus 31 has them in equal measure. So, we end this review with the idiom that the glass is half full.

Watch the video review below.