Anek Review: Anubhav Sinha’s latest directorial, ‘Anek,’ attempts to shed light on the socio-political conflicts in Northeast India. Its a bold attempt to showcase the intense political conflicts that is far away from the eyes of many.
The film, which was primarily shot in Assam and Meghalaya, stars Ayushmann Khurrana as an undercover cop on a mission to restore peace in the Northeast region.
ANEK REVIEW: Anubhav Sinha’s Anek is a multi-layered story about efforts to negotiate a peace treaty with a separatist organisation in the northeast, a process that has dragged on for decades with no resolution.
Aman (Ayushmann Khurrana), a clandestine operative who goes by the nickname Joshua, is charged with creating a circumstance that will bring Tiger Sangha (Loitongbam Dorendra), the region’s leading rebel leader, to the negotiating table. Along the process, Aman discovers that things aren’t as black and white as he had assumed, and he finds himself emotionally and professionally conflicted.
Anek brings you face to face with the undercurrents of discrimination and isolation from’mainland’ India that exist in diverse regions of the northeast with conversational dialogues sprinkled throughout the narrative.
ANEK Review: A thought provoking north-east story , strong performances by Ayushmann Khurrana and Andrea
It’s a little unsettling at times, but that’s the point of the story. Sinha avoids overt jingoism and heavy-handed, seetimaar lines. What works here are the subtleties in the interactions and performances, as well as some nuanced writing that captures the essence of the grey Sinha set out to portray in the film.
Anek highlights subtle similarities between the northeast and other sections of the country, particularly Jammu and Kashmir, over the course of its runtime. For example, Abrar Butt, Aman’s boss and a Kashmiri himself, played by Manoj Pahwa, peers out of an aeroplane window while flying to the northeast.
Taking in the breathtaking view, he says, “Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-ohameen ast” – Khusro’s well-known line that describes the picturesque beauty of Kashmir. Through the window of that plane, the director offers you a glimpse of the outer beauty and inner turmoil of both regions.
ANEK is quite an engaging political thriller
With Ayushmann Khurrana, Manoj Pahwa, Andrea Kevichüsa, Kumud Mishra, Loitongbam Dorendra, and JD Chakraverti giving stunning performances, the film leaves the spectator with plenty of unpleasant concerns – most notably, what defines an Indian. As far as the actor Andrea, the film features her in the role of a national-level boxer who faces discrimination as she hails from the North East. In a recent interaction, the actress has revealed a real-life incident where she faced such kind of discrimination.
The production design, visual tone, cinematography, and action sequences, as well as the use of silences, regional dialect, folk melodies, and the background score, lend themselves effectively to the tale.
Anubhav Sinha’s career as a conscience-keeper continues, with films like Mulk, Article 15, and Thappad forcing you to consider equality and justice in terms of religion, caste, gender, and now region.
‘Anek’ is a must-watch for those who want to know about the geopolitical situation of the Northeastern region.