Bhoomi is a film about a father’s revenge on the people who rape his daughter. Rape is something that we hear about and read about almost every day, yet there is very little that is done about it in our country. While the wrongdoers get away with it, it’s the victims who suffer all their life, mentally and physically, and that’s exactly what Bhoomi is all about.
It’s not exactly a subject or a film that everybody would want to make or watch, after all, there’s already so much of it happening, in reality, isn’t it? It’s also a subject that has been done to death in Bollywood films., the most recent ones being Mom and Maatr So what is it that’s different about Bhoomi? What makes Bhoomi special is the father-daughter bond that they have touched upon in the film, played perfectly by Sanjay Dutt and Aditi Rao Hydari respectively.
Sanjay Dutt plays a doting father and he does that with conviction, not once do you realize that he’s actually acting in the film. He’s real and looks every bit the aging, caring father, who is tough when he needs to be but equally helpless at times. The scene where he goes to search for Bhoomi but can’t find her anywhere and on his return home he breaks down helplessly and is curled up like a helpless little child on the bare ground, makes your heart feel heavy. The court scene, where you would expect him to go all out and show his rage, and break things, but he plays a tired, helpless, father, something that is completely unlike the Sanjay Dutt we’ve all seen in his other films.
Aditi, on the other hand, is not just graceful and gorgeous but one of the most talented but unfortunately underrated actress. In Bhoomi, she proves that if given the right roles, she can do a brilliant job, far better than most of her contemporaries. She looks vulnerable when she has to and you almost feel like reaching out to her and giving her a hug but in the scenes where she;s required to rise, she looks dignified and strong.
The scenes between the father-daughter are so real, that I was laughing and crying along with them. They literally tug at your heartstrings. Any girl would relate to that special bond that we shared with our dads. From pulling each other’s legs to those silly random arguments, everything is so relatable.
The only problem I had was the prolonged rape scenes and the typical old Hindi film style villains, even their dialogues were typically 80s. Sunny Leone makes her presence felt as usual in a gaudy looking nightclub, which again reminds one of the films in the 80s. Some scenes are predictable too. Having said that you tend to get so involved in certain scenes, like the one where they catch hold of their first wrongdoer, a young 17-year-old guy and beat the hell out of him, I was literally clenching my fists and saying “ Aur maro saale ko!” in my mind!
There are more reasons to watch the film than not to so go watch Bhoomi for Sanjay Dutt and Aditi Rao Hydari Carry some tissues along!
