Kaagaz

Kaagaz (transl. 'Paper') is a 2021 Indian biographical comedy film written and directed by Satish Kaushik and produced by Salman Khan and Nishant Kaushik under the banner of Salman Khan Films and The Satish Kaushik Entertainment Production.^[2][3][4] The film stars Pankaj Tripathi, Monal Gajjar and Amar Upadhyay.^[5]

The plot of the film is based on the life and struggle of Lal Bihari, a farmer from the small village of Amilo Mubarakpur, who was declared dead on official papers.^[6] It marked the last directorial venture of Kaushik before his death on 9 March 2023.

At the 2021 Filmfare OTT Awards, Kaagaz received 3 nominations – Best Web Original Film, Best Actor in a Web Original Film (Tripathi) and Best Supporting Actor in a Web Original Film (Kaushik). The spiritual sequel Kaagaz 2 was released to positive reviews on March 1 2024.^[7]

Synopsis

The film depicts the struggle and fight of Bharat Lal Bihari against the Indian bureaucracy who was declared dead on government records, his fight with the government went on for 19 years.

Cast

• Pankaj Tripathi^[8] as Bharatlal Bihari
• Monal Gajjar as Rukmanii
• Satish Kaushik as Advocate Sadhoram Kewat
• Mita Vashisht as MLA Asarfi Devi
• Brijendra Kala as Highcourt Judge
• Amar Upadhyay as MLA Vidhayak Jaganpal Singh
• Lankesh Bhardwaj
  as Sr. Inspector
• Neha Chauhan as Journalist Sonia
• Garrvil Mohan as Pablo
• Pranay Narayan as Devilal
• Amit Pathak as Harilal
• Sharat Sonu as Rampal
• Ratan Lal as Motiya
• Mahesh Chandra Deva as typist
• Arun Shekhar as Chaman Lal
• Dinesh Sharma as Panditji Pandey
• Yogesh Kumar Shukla as Shukla Ji
• Sandeepa Dhar Special appearance in Laalam Laal song^[9]
• Ajay Singh as Tyagi peshkaar of High court judge
• Lal Bihari in a cameo appearance as the man cycling beside Bharatlal

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by Pravesh Mallick, Rahul Jain and ceAzer while lyrics written by Aseem Ahmed Abbasee, Rashmi Virag, Kunaal Vermaa and Shweta Raj.

Release

It premiered on 7 January 2021 on ZEE5.^[1]

Reception

Critical reception

Manoj Vashisth of Dainik Jagran^[11] and Neeraj Verma of Navbharat Times^[12] had given the film three and half stars out of five. Akanksha Sridhara of Xappie^[13] also gives three and half stars out of five to the film.

Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of The Times of India^[14] had given the film three stars out of five by summing with 'Kaagaz' could have been the go-to movie for those seeking a burst of inspiration, but it ends up being a uni-dimensional masterclass on one man's acting prowess".

Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV^[15] had given the film three stars concluding "Satish Kaushik plays a more extended role with customary aplomb. It is however left to Pankaj Tripathi to keep Kaagaz afloat even when it appears to be wilting a touch under the burden of its solemn purpose. He doesn't let the film down."

Gautaman Bhaskaran of News18^[16] had given the film two and half stars out of five stating that Kaagaz is a satire narrated with sincerity and passion, and takes on the bureaucracy by its horns, so to say. The film is a movingly powerful reflection of how India's poor continue to be treated even today – almost 74 years after the country won its independence from decades of foreign dominance, first by the Mughals and then British. In a way, India's poor, most of whom live away from urban conglomerations, remain as poor as they were and still face the brunt of a largely unfeeling and corrupt administration.

Accolades

References

External links

• Kaagaz on ZEE5
• Kaagaz at
  IMDb