Kapil Sharma switches register to play a family man struggling with India’s gig economy in the latest from Nandita Das

Zwigato

Source: Courtesy of TIFF

‘Zwigato’

Dir: Nandita Das. India. 2022. 102mins

There are strong echoes of Ken Loach’s Sorry We Missed You in Zwigato, as a family navigates the pressures of life under the cosh of the gig economy. Director Nandita Das tells a story only too familiar in an India beset by mass unemployment. The ambitious mix of social commentary and political insight can feel a little didactic, but she never loses sight of the foreground story of the human casualties of inequality. The film should strike a chord with further festivals, following its berths in TIFF and Busan, and in India, where audiences might want to see how popular stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma acquits himself in a change of pace dramatic role.

Das does present a compelling picture of a country divided by wealth, class and opportunity

Sharma is very convincing as Manas, a former factory manager in Bhubaneswar who has survived eight months of pandemic-related unemployment. In desperation, he signs up as a driver (or “ partner” ) for a food delivery app called Zwigato. His life is now at the mercy of punishing algorithms, rude customers, instant reviews and a company that holds all the power. Manas is a good-hearted man who still believes that it is his responsibility to be the household provider. It is a mark of shame that his wife Pratima (Shahana Goswami) has applied for a cleaning job at a shopping mall to augment the family finances. The dishonour in a wife going out to work shows that issues raised in Satyajit Ray’s 1963 classic The Big City (Mahanagar) still remain relevant.

Das’s third feature after Firaaq (2008) and Manto (2018) uses characters as mouthpieces to inform the audience of India’s economic state. We are told this is a country with 50 million unemployed, where one job can attract 93,000 applicants and where a man like Manas should consider himself lucky enough to have any kind of income. Das threads the film with constant examples of the sense of entitlement among the rich and privileged. This is a society where people will pay more for a single avocado than many earn in a week, a society where someone is seeking gluten free bagels whilst others starve. “ Everything is allowed in India, “ observes one character.

Das does present a compelling picture of a country divided by wealth, class and opportunity. Home for Manas and Pratima is a gloomy apartment they share with his ailing, incontinent mother Maai (Shantilata Padhy) and their two children Kartik (Prajwal Sahoo) and Purbi (Yuvika Brahma). When Manas heads out on his motorbike to deliver another order, there is an illusory sense of freedom as he glides along bustling city streets, dodging crowds and congested traffic: seemingly a master of his own fate. Sagar Desai’s jaunty, lilting score enhances that impression. The reality is an app that puts him on a treadmill of meeting delivery deadlines. There are punishments for failure, and vindictive customers can ruin his standing with less than complimentary feedback. There is more comfort in the dark of his apartment than the light of the outside world.

Pratima’s story is secondary to the bigger picture but Goswami makes her a woman of patience and understanding. Pratima seeks practical solutions to problems, refusing to let pride or tradition stand in the way of what she must do. She also maintains a self-respect that is unbowed by the demands or assumptions of others.

Sharma’s restrained performance makes Manas a convincing everyman, frustrated at every turn, an impossible dreamer at times but ultimately realistic about what it takes to survive. Manas is also realistic about what matters most – sharing a life with his son, daughter and loving wife. The fact that husband and wife achieve a united front against all adversity lends a Chaplinesque pathos to Das’s ambitious tale of rich and poor and life’s most important priorities.

Production companies: Applause Entertainment, Nandita Das Initiatives LLP

International sales: Applause Entertainment. films@applause.adityabirla.com

Producers: Sameer Nair, Deepak Segal, Nandita Das.

Screenplay: Nandita Das, Samir Patil

Cinematography: Ranjan Palit

Production design:  Rita Ghosh

Editing: Jabeen Merchant

Music: Sagar Desai

Main cast:  Kapil Sharma, Shahana Goswami, Yuvika Brahma, Shantilata Padhy, Prajwal Sahoo