''Bastar: The Naxal Story'' is a 2024 Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language

political thriller A political thriller is a thriller that is set against the backdrop of a political power struggle; high stakes and suspense are the core of the story. The genre often forces the audiences to consider and understand the importance of politics. Th ...

film directed by

Sudipto Sen Sudipto Sen is an Indian film director known for his work in Bengali and Hindi cinema. He directed various films and short films as ''Lucknow Times'', ''The Last Monk'', ''The Kerala Story,'' and '' Bastar: The Naxal Story''. Sudipto Sen was ...

and produced by

Vipul Amrutlal Shah Vipul Amrutlal Shah (commonly known as Vipul Shah) is a film producer and director of Hindi films. He began his career with Gujarati theatre. He was part/director of a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by audience. He ...

. It stars

Adah Sharma Adah Sharma (born 11 May 1992) is an Indian actress who appears predominantly in Hindi and Telugu films. Sharma, after finishing her schooling, made her acting debut with a leading role in the 2008 Hindi horror film, ''1920'', a box office succ ...

Indira Tiwari Indira Tiwari is an Indian actress. She has appeared in the films ''Aarakshan'' (2011), ''Nazarband'' (2020), '' Serious Men'' (2020), and '' Gangubai Kathiawadi'' (2022). Career Tiwari began her acting career by portraying a student in Prakas ...

, Vijay Krishna,

Shilpa Shukla Shilpa Shukla (born 22 February 1982) is an Indian film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles in the 2007 sports drama '' Chak De! India'' and the 2013 neo-noir film '' B.A. Pass'', for which she was awarded the Filmfare Critics Awar ...

, Yashpal Sharma,

Subrat Dutta Subrata Dutta (born 16 November 1975) is an actor who appears in Indian films. He is best known for his role in Bollywood films like Talaash: The Answer Lies Within, ''Talaash'', ''Tango Charlie'', Zameen (2003 film), ''Zameen'', ''The Shaukeen ...

and

Raima Sen Raima Sen (born Raima Dev Varma) is an Indian actress and model, born into the royal family of Tripura to Bharat Dev Varma and Moon Moon Sen. Sen is known for her work in Hindi and Bengali films. Early life Raima Sen was born on 7 November ...

. The film was announced in June 2023, along with the title of the film, it's based on the

Naxalite–Maoist insurgency The Naxalite–Maoist insurgency is an ongoing conflict between the Indian government and Left-wing terrorism, left-wing extremist groups. The Naxalites are a group of communist groups, who follow Maoist political sentiment and ideology, and c ...

in the

Bastar district Bastar is a district in the state of Chhattisgarh in Central India. Jagdalpur is the district headquarters. Bastar is bounded on the northwest by Narayanpur District, on the north by Kondagaon district, on the east by Nabarangpur and Koraput ...

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (; ) is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in Central India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the List ...

and the

April 2010 Maoist attack in Dantewada The April 2010 Dantewada Maoist attack was an 6 April 2010 ambush by Naxalite-Maoist insurgents from the Communist Party of India (Maoist) near Chintalnar village in Dantewada district, Chhattisgarh, India, leading to the killing of 76 CR ...

. Bastar was theatrically released on 15 March 2024. The film received negative reviews from critics and was a major

box office bomb A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...

Plot

Cast

Production

Development

The film was produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah and directed by Sudipto Sen, who is also the story writer of the film. In June 2023, Sunshine Pictures, the production company of the film, via social media, announced their next film titled ''Bastar''.

Filming

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

commenced on 19 October 2023, with a

muhurat Muhūrta () is a Hindu unit of time along with ''nimiṣa'', ''kāṣṭhā'', and ''kalā'' in the Hindu calendar. In the ''Brāhmaṇas'', ''muhūrta'' denotes a division of time: 1/30 of a day, or a period of 48 minutes. An alternative meanin ...

puja and completed the first schedule of shooting.

Release

Theatrical

''Bastar'' was theatrically released on 15 March 2024. The film was not properly released and got only a screen or two at the theatres.

Home Video

The digital streaming rights of ''Bastar'' was bought by

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 ...

. The film started streaming on 17 May 2024.

Reception

''Bastar: The Naxal Story'' wasn't well-received by critics. Abhishek Srivastava 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 3/5 and wrote "''Bastar'' is a hard-hitting crime drama, with moments that surely shake you." Deepa Gahlot of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' gave 2/5 stars and wrote "The Naxal movement has such a complex history that several books have been written to understand it. ''Bastar: The Naxal Story'' seeks to reduce it to bullet points and stereotypes." Rohit Bhatnagar of ''

The Free Press Journal ''The Free Press Journal'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper that was established in 1928 by Swaminathan Sadanand, who also acted as its first editor. First produced to complement a news agency, the Free Press of India, it was a s ...

'' gave 2/5 stars and wrote "''Bastar: The Naxal Story'' is a sloppy docudrama that is away from thrill, adventure and drama". Zinia Bandyopadhyay of ''

India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

'' gave 1/5 stars and wrote that ''Bastar'' is "Sensational, oversimplified film with no nuance".

Shubhra Gupta Shubhra Gupta is an Indian film critic who writes for ''The Indian Express''. She received the Ramnath Goenka Award for Best Writing on Cinema in 2012. She was a member of the Central Board of Film Certification from 2012 to 2015. She is the au ...

of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...

'' rated 0.5/5 stars and wrote "To expect any kind of nuance from the makers of The Kerala Story would have been a stretch. Bastar is more of the same." Samvartha Sahil of ''

Deccan Herald ''Deccan Herald'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper published from the Indian state of Karnataka. It was founded by businessman K. N. Guruswamy and launched on 17 June 1948. It is published by The Printers Mysore, a privately hel ...

'' rated 0.5/5 stars and wrote "Sudipto Sen’s new feature film ''Bastar: The Naxal Story'' lacks not just an understanding of a complex political situation, and its larger socio-economic undercurrents, but also of constructing a compelling narrative."

References

External links

* *{{Rotten Tomatoes , bastar_the_naxal_story
Bastar: The Naxal Story
2024 films Films about Naxalism 2020s Hindi-language films Indian political thriller films Films set in Chhattisgarh Indian docudrama films Fictional portrayals of police departments in India Indian police films Films about terrorism in India Films set in jungles Guerrilla warfare in film Films about communism Indian films based on actual events Hindi-language action films Hindi-language films based on actual events Indian action thriller films Films set in 2010 Indian propaganda films 2024 controversies Films about police brutality