Zwigato (2023): A Family-Drama Without A Life

You never know what life has in store for you! On March 17, 2023; actress, producer, and director Nandita Das released a family-life drama by the name “Zwigato” on the big screens. The film features Kapil Sharma, and Shahana Goswami in the lead roles.

Zwigato tells the story of a housewife named Pratima (Shahana Goswami), and her struggles to explore different work opportunities as her husband Manas (Kapil Sharma) is finding it hard to support his family with his meager food-delivery job. So, she starts exploring different work opportunities, from being a masseuse for rich women to a shopping mall cleaner. The story basically explores her struggles and fears related to these new work experiences.

Kapil Sharma as food-delivery man Manas in Zwigato

Zwigato (2023) Official Trailer:

The Good:

If you find anything good after watching this movie, then do let me know. I am all ears!

A Glimpse Of Zwigato’s Making

The Bad:

Kapil Sharma Himself

A still from Zwigato featuring Kapil Sharma as Manas

I hope you are aware of who Kapil Sharma is. He is a stand-up stage-show comedian who entertains the audiences with his funny jokes and gimmicks in a popular Indian television show, which happens to be his own show named “The Kapil Sharma Show”. He has made a fortune by hosting this comedy show where he invites film stars and has some fun chats with them before their films are released. This show of his basically happens to be a film promotional show. The action-comedy “Kisi Ka Bhai Kisi Ki Jaan” by Salman Khan will be released soon. So, you will find Salman on The Kapil Sharma Show before the film’s release. As Salman Khan happens to be the producer of The Kapil Sharma Show, Kapil Sharma has an affinity for him.

Shahana Goswami (Left) as as Manas’ wife Pratima in Zwigato

Kapil Sharma pulls the legs of actors during his conversation with them throughout the show. Especially the actresses! You need to see how he flirts with the beautiful Bollywood actresses during the show in front of the audiences, and the actresses really enjoy getting hit upon by him. Some get irritated as well, but they don’t show it in front of the audience. Like I say; anything for the sake of comedy! Kapil Sharma is strikingly rich as he happens to be one of the few owners of expensive Rolls-Royce cars in Bollywood.

Kapil Sharma Sings For Bollywood Actress Deepika Padukone On “The Kapil Sharma Show”!

So, when you mindlessly cast a comedian like Kapil Sharma who has made his career and image by making people laugh, then how can you expect him to perform in a serious family-life drama? In Zwigato, Kapil Sharma can be seen as a bike-riding food-delivery man who suffers from family issues as he has a difficult time supporting his family, which consists of his wife Pratima, two children, and his ailing old mother. Throughout the movie, Kapil Sharma can be seen suffering from life-related monotony, and his expressions are fixed and at some instances, blank. I wonder, is this the same comedy-king Kapil Sharma? And you must see his dialogue delivery in Zwigato. Short and uninteresting dialogues with blank expressions, that’s what he delivers throughout the movie. Kapil Sharma appears to have gained a lot of weight too, and is appearing like a bloated food-delivery man in Zwigato.

Shahana Goswami in a still from Zwigato

In the past, Kapil Sharma had featured as the lead in films like the 2015 rom-com “Kis Kisko Pyaar Karoon” and the 2017 historical drama “Firangi” which were mega-disasters at the box office. And now in 2023, he has again starred in this mega-flop of a family-life drama. So, I think it will be better for him if he sticks to doing comical stage shows and interviews of celebrities only.

Boring Story

Zwigato is co-written, co-produced, and directed by Nandita Das. The story of Zwigato is boring. As a filmmaker, one needs to understand what may appeal to the crowd before making any film. After all, filmmaking is your business and you are doing it to secure profits, aren’t you? If you purposely design a boring story, convert it into a film, and it fails at the box office, then what’s the point?

The two children of Manas and Pratima in Zwigato

The Indian crowd wants entertainment, and entertainment only! And what do you think is the definition of “entertainment” according to them? An entertaining film for the Indian crowd is one which is spiced up with action, adventure, thrill, and of course, romance! And you get to see none of them in Zwigato.

I mean, who would want to spend his or her valuable time and money to go to the theater and watch a boring family-life drama in which the story is that a food-delivery man is unable to meet ends meet with his family, and his wife starts exploring job opportunities to support the family. That’s it! India is a country where some people are extremely rich while others are below the poverty level. In fact, situations like this happen in almost every lower middle-class family in India. So, what you are actually facing in your dull and monotonous life if you happen to watch the same thing on screens, then you tend to not only lose interest but you may get very much disturbed as well.

Dull Cinematography

The cinematography of Zwigato by Ranjan Palit is extremely dull and unappealing. The film was extensively shot in the city of Bhubaneshwar which is the capital of the Odisha state in India. The backgrounds are extremely ordinary, and a lot of secondary actors were local Oriya people.

The Verdict:

Kapil Sharma with director Nandita Das on the sets of Zwigato

Regarding Shahana Goswami, her performance was as blunt and boring as that of Kapil Sharma. In fact, the movie’s script was monotonous in itself, so how could the actors perform well?

As Zwigato has been shot in Odisha, it has been declared as tax-free in the state. I would say, Zwigato would appeal to feminists. An ordinary housewife, whose food-delivery man husband is finding it hard to support his family, moves forward to explore new income opportunities. This is just an eye-opening awareness drama for housewives which makes them aware that they too can work, earn, and support their families along with their husbands.

But in terms of entertainment and engagement, this film is a big zero! The story, script, and narration are so weak that they don’t leave a mark. In fact, a slow-paced and boring drama like this one can be frustrating to watch. You will go inside the theater hall with a head full of hair, and come out bald. That’s because, after 1 hour and 45 minutes of visual torture when the movie gets over, you would have pulled all your hair out of frustration.

Zwigato (2023) International Trailer:

 

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  • Acting - 3.5/10
    3.5/10
  • Cinematography/Visual Effects - 3/10
    3/10
  • Plot/Screenplay - 3.5/10
    3.5/10
  • Setting/Theme - 3.5/10
    3.5/10
  • Watchability - 3/10
    3/10
  • Rewatchability - 0/10
    0/10
Overall
2.8/10
2.8/10
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About Subhadeep Kumar Ganguli

Meta film critic. Never make the same mistake twice. Make it three or four times just to be sure 😉