''Kaagaz'' () is a 2021 Indian

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

written and directed by

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (13 April 1956 – 9 March 2023) was an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian, editor and screenwriter. He found his fame in Hindi cinema, Bollywood with ''Mr. India (1987 film), Mr. India'' starring Anil Kapoor, Sri ...

and produced by

Salman Khan Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

and Nishant Kaushik under the banner of

Salman Khan Films Abdul Rashid Salim Salman Khan (; born 27 December 1965) is an Indian actor, film producer, and television personality who predominantly works in Hindi films. In a career spanning over three decades, his awards include two National Film Awa ...

and The Satish Kaushik Entertainment Production. The film stars

Pankaj Tripathi Pankaj Tripathi, born as Pankaj Tiwari (5 September 1976), is an Indian actor who predominantly works in Hindi films and series. He is the recipient of two National Film Awards and a Filmfare Award. After studying acting at the National School ...

Monal Gajjar Monal Gajjar is an Indian actress and model who mainly appears in Gujarati language, Gujarati and Telugu language, Telugu films. She debuted with 2012 Telugu film ''Sudigadu''. She has also acted in Satish Kaushik directed Hindi film ''Kaagaz'' ...

and

Amar Upadhyay Amar Upadhyay (born 1 August 1976) is an Indian actor in Hindi television and film. He is best known for his collaborations with Ekta Kapoor in the television shows ''Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi'' (2000–2002), '' Kalash'' (2000–2002), ' ...

. The plot of the film is based on the life and struggle of

Lal Bihari Lal Bihari (or Lal Bihari Mritak, born 6 May 1955) is an Indian farmer and activist from Amilo, in Azamgarh district, Uttar Pradesh, who, though alive, was officially designated dead between 1975 and 1994. He fought with Indian bureaucracy fo ...

, a farmer from the small village of Amilo Mubarakpur, who was declared dead on official papers. 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.

Synopsis

The film depicts the struggle of Bharat Lal Bihari against the Indian bureaucracy after he was declared dead on government records. His fight with the government lasted for 19 years.

Cast

as Bharatlal Bihari *

as Rukmanii *

as Advocate Sadhoram Kewat *

Mita Vashisht Mita Vashisht (born 2 November 1967) is an Indian actress. Known for her work on screen, stage and television, she has played a wide range of roles. Her most prominent appearances includes; sci-fi television series '' Space City Sigma'' (1989- ...

as MLA Asarfi Devi *

Brijendra Kala Brijendra Kala is an Indian actor who works in Hindi cinema. He is known for his subtle portrayals of characters rooted in reality. He gained attention for his small roles in mainstream cinema. Early life Kala spent his childhood in Mathura, ...

as Highcourt Judge *

as MLA Vidhayak Jaganpal Singh * Lankesh Bhardwaj as Sr. Inspector *

Neha Chauhan Neha Chauhan is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She is best known for her appearances in the found-footage drama '' Love Sex Aur Dhokha'' (2010) and the Haryanvi-Hindi drama '' G Kutta Se'' (2015). Early life Neha was born in Nige ...

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 Sandeepa Dhar is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and Web series. She made her acting debut in 2010 with '' Isi Life Mein''. For her performance in the film, she was nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, Star Screen A ...

Special appearance in ''Laalam Laal'' song * Ajay Singh as Tyagi, Peshkaar of High court judge *

in a cameo appearance as the man cycling beside Bharatlal

Soundtrack

The film's music was composed by

Pravesh Mallick Pravesh Mallick (born 1 July, 1980) is an Indian composer, songwriter and playback singer. After working as a stage performer and composing for non-film albums and songs he debuted as a film playback singer and composer in Prakash Jha's 2016 Hi ...

, Rahul Jain and ceAzer while lyrics written by Aseem Ahmed Abbasee,

Rashmi Virag Rashmi Virag is the screen name of Rashmi Singh and Virag Mishra, an Indian lyricist duo active in Bollywood. At first, Singh and Mishra wrote lyrics themselves; in 2015, they began working as a duo. Singh won the Best Lyricist award at the ...

, Kunaal Vermaa and Shweta Raj.

Release

It premiered on 7 January 2021 on

ZEE5 ZEE5 or Z5 is an Indian subscription video on demand and over-the-top streaming service, owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. It was launched in India on 14 February 2018 with content in 12 languages. The ZEE5 mobile app is available on We ...

Reception

Critical reception

Pallabi Dey Purkayastha of

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

rated the film 3/5 and wrote "To sum it up, ''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. Not that we are complaining, but the film had the potential to tug at the heart strings. Alas! It was not to be."

Saibal Chatterjee Saibal Chatterjee is an Indian film critic, editor and documentary screenwriter. He was a columnist at ''BBC News'', ''Business Standard'', ''Hindustan Times'' and '' The Financial Express''. He has also written for ''The Telegraph'', ''The Tim ...

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. It was founded in 1984 by economist Prannoy Roy and journalist Radhika Roy. NDTV began as a production house for news segments, ...

rated the film 3/5 and wrote "Satish Kaushik's labour of love drives home the plight of a common man up against an administrative system that thrives on running the already dispossessed further into the ground." Gautaman Bhaskaran of

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...

rated the film 2.5/5 and wrote "''Kaagaz'' goes beyond the realm of parody, and a tighter leash on characterisations and scene conceptualisations could have gone a long way in turning Kaagaz into a more worthwhile watch."

Accolades

References

External links

*
Kaagaz
' on

* {{Satish Kaushik Films directed by Satish Kaushik Films postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic ZEE5 original films 2020s biographical films 2020s Hindi-language films Indian legal drama films Indian courtroom films Films about miscarriage of justice