Anubhav Sinha says Bheed has received so much love and adulation but there’s nobody in theatres

Anubhav Sinha’s latest film Bheed released in theatres on March 24. Based on real-life events, the film follows the plight of the migrant workers who had to find a way back home to their villages from the cities during the COVID-19 lockdown in 2020. While the film has not done well at the box office, Anubhav said he was confused about how much people were talking about loving the film online, but that did not translate into people going to theatres to watch. (Also read: Bheed box office collection day one: John Wick Chapter 4 fares far better than Anubhav Sinha film)

Bheed was filmed in black and white. Written by Anubhav, Saumya Tiwari and Sonali Jain, it stars Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar, Pankaj Kapur and Dia Mirza amongst others. The Hindi film also received many positive reviews from critics. The mixed result of the box office and positive response from those who had seen it left Anubhav confused after its release. With no clear answer, the filmmaker shared that he has mixed feelings on it.

Discussing the film with critic Bhardwaj Rangan on Galatta Plus, Anubhav revealed that it was the most bizarre result of his film that he had experienced. He shared, “Sometimes you make a film which is rejected and you understand that even if it’s a great film, people didn’t connect with it. Over time you’ll learn to live with it. Or you make a film where people love it and they go to the theatres and they see it.”

He went on to say, “This film has received so much love and adulation and respect. People are writing pages on WhatsApp and on Facebook, more reviews than I have ever read. But there’s nobody in the theatres. But it makes a slightly bizarre feeling. I’m half happy and half intrigued.”

The Hindustan Times review of the film stated, “Overall, Bheed states the facts as is and doesn’t try to lace them with them anything fancy or unreal. A few cinematic liberties definitely would have been taken and understandably so, but never to an extent that it completely washes out the truth. Sinha keeps the tussle between the class, power, caste and religion on till the very last minute. And the end credits aptly sum up the migrant crisis and their unforgettable pain with Herail Ba. Watch it if you truly care to know the truth and what happened with those thousand of migrants who were rendered homeless due to the pandemic without any fault of theirs.”