1. Anubhav Sinha, post Mulk, is a changed person. It is almost like one of those potboilers where a brother is killed and replaced by his identical twin. The films that Anubhav made before Mulk belong to a completely different creative comportment. Anubhav is a late bloomer. But what a bloomer! Now every film he makes is a landmark.
2. Anek teams Anubhav with Ayushmann Khurrana,the one-stop cottage industry for homespun raw realism. Their earlier collaboration in Article 15 yielded a certifiable masterpiece. Anubhav rates Anek higher than Article 15. So do I.Anek is pertinent and relevant raw and hardhitting.
3. It’s been a while since we saw a film that reflects a true picture of societal discrepancy. Of late we’ve been seeing only fantasies in movie theatres, big or small,or otherwise there was Vivek Agnihotri’s The Kashmir Files an expose of historical anomaly that goes far beyond cinema. Anubhav Sinha’s Anek is Pure Cinema. Every frame is designed cinematically And yet every moment is inured in the immediate present.
4. The North East has been neglected not only by successive governments, but also by generations of Indian cinema. Now there is Anek .The last significant mainstream film on the problems of the North East was Yeh Gulistan Hamara in 1972 . Directed by Atma Ram(the great Guru Dutt’s brother) it is remembered today only for the songs and music by Sachin Dev Burman.
5. Admirably, Anubhav has cast a North-Eastern actress Andrea Kevichüsa in the lead. Yeh Gulistan Hamara had Sharmila Tagore playing a Naga native. Go ahead, laugh.
