A strong storyline and all elements of entertainment, could not gather enough popularity for the film Pratyavartan- The Home Coming,’ produced by Jharkhand Police. Though the Director of the movie called it satisfying, people who watched the movie claimed that the movie could have been presented in a better way, targeting the Naxal belt in the State.
“Even though it is a fully entertaining movie, it may not be able to make an impact on the naxal belt as it is based on the fight inside naxal groups,” said Neeraj Kumar of Daltonganj. Despite the fact that it was a charity show and was completely shot in Jharkhand, there were little takers for the movie, he added.
Others, however, blamed it on Jharkhand Police for not promoting the film effectively before its release.
“I am quite surprised that such an important movie produced by Jharkhand Police, was not promoted properly before its release. Such movies of public interest must be promoted beforehand, so that more and more people get benefitted out of it,” said another movie-lover Sriram Puri of Simdega who watched the movie on Friday itself.
Director of this film Nimu Bhaumik also believed that it would have received better response in the Naxal heartlands if they would have got some more time for publicity of the movie. He however said that they will try to put it before the rural population by dubbing it in various local languages across the State.
Businesswise, Bhaumik did not expected much from such a propaganda movie as it depends on advertisements, which was not the priority in this case.
“Since the movie was watched by people at Fun Cinemas as well as theaters in the naxal heartlends like Gadhwa, latehar and Chatra, the message which we wanted to convey reached both to elite and the common people, which itself is an achievement,” Bhaumik added. Since, the movie was watched by all, the purpose of making it is fulfilled, he added.
Some people also said that the film was a bit slow in the first half, which failed to attract the crowed to sit thourgh the second half. “Though the film can challenge any bollywood movie quality wise, but a common man will find it very slow in the first half,” said Dipankar Hazaribagh.
Since, the film has been made by Jharkhand Police, where a total of 12 officers of Indian Police Services have acted in it, people had more expectations with it, he added.
Surprisingly, even the office bearers of Police Association did not know that the movie had already been released on Friday.
DGP Rajiv Kumar, the person behind the making of the movie however, claimed it to have a strong story line and entertaining movi.
When asked about low turnout, he said that people might not be getting attracted as there was no star cast in the movie.
“Having stars does make difference. Since our move was to make people aware rather than entertainment, we preferred to cast people from the police,” said Kumar. But, no one can find fault in the quality of the film, he claimed.
The idea of making this film came to Kumar in 2013 when he was the DGP, Jharkhand Police. Through this movie, he wanted to encourage Maoists to leave the path of violence and return into the mainstream.
The story of the film revolves around the life of a Maoist sub-zonal commander who feels that Maoists have deviated from the path of ideology. The movie has a lot of plot twists and even a love story to keep the audience hooked.
The story is about a Maoist boy who rescues a girl, who has been raped but eventually falls in love with her. He is torn between his love and the expectations of his leader to participate in the war against the State.
The film is directed by Nimu Bhaumik and has been mostly shot in Jharkhand. In addition, renowned singer Shaan has given his voice to several songs. Apart from the police officers, the movie also stars Shreela Majumder, Mousumi Bhattacharya, Ishan, and Saikat Chatterjee, among other actors.