Zwigato Movie Review: Kapil Sharma and Shahana Goswami star in this gripping story. Set in Bhubaneswar, Zwigato follows the life of Manas (Kapil) who had to stay at home unemployed for eight months due to the unemployment pandemic. The sentence “these films are made, intended and adapted for film festivals” should be deleted. Zwigato is initially considered “film festival material” because it is produced at a pace that allows the narrative to be understood without making it overtly commercial. But after this realistic story, one realizes that a film about food messengers who have become part of the culture of the metropolis was long overdue.

Set in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, Zwigato follows the life of Manas (Kapil Sharma), a former factory manager who had to stay at home unemployed for eight months due to pandemic unemployment. As the sole breadwinner of a family of five: wife Pratime (Shahana Goswami), sons Kartik (Prajwal Sahoo) and Purbi (Yuvika Brahma), and a bedridden mother Maai (Shantilata Padhy), Manas eventually signs on as a partner with a food delivery app called Zwigato, a cheeky mix of popular meal delivery apps Zomato and Swiggy). Then she maneuvers to understand the tricks of the trade, tries to figure out the complicated rating system, hopes to hit the daily delivery goal, encounters difficult customers and sometimes asks them to take a selfie with them to earn that extra incentive. I really liked that instead of focusing on the plight and ordeal of these families, who are devastated by the consequences of the pandemic, Zwigato prefers to emphasize how life must go through thick and thin.

A surly version of India’s gig economy, the film often devolves into a social commentary with slight references to the political scene and system flaws that the service class must contend with, but never takes the preaching zone. A short and powerful monologue from Sayani Gupta, who holds a respectable position at Zwigato’s headquarters, hits hard as she tries to claim that in a country of 2.4 billion, there are 93,000 applications for a manual worker’s job, of which 93,000 are multiple graduate students and that these delivery partners should be lucky to have a convenient job where they can choose the shift they want to work and log on and off whenever they want. Sharma, like Manas, is as serious and persuasive as he can be. He’s a chameleon transformation in terms of his body language, demeanor and especially his dialogue without his usual Punjabi touch. Full marks to Sharma for getting it right. The way he mixes that honesty with a touch of humor into his acting without feeling sorry for his life is endearing and leaves you with a smile.