Bheed teaser: Rajkummar Rao, Bhumi Pednekar film compares the 2020 workers migration to 1947 Partition. Watch

Rajkummar shared the first teaser of the film which is releasing later this month. He wrote on Instagram, “Hum kahaani bata rahe hai uss waqt ki jab batwara desh mein nahi, samaaj mein hua tha (We are telling the story of that time where there was a divide not in the country, but in society). #Bheed, a story of the darkest times, in black and white. Releasing in cinemas on 24th March 2023.” The brief teaser cross cuts between photographs from the partition to 2020 when migrant families left the cities en masse. The crowds are seen gathering at bus and train stations, trying to find a way to get back home.

While the teaser does not show any of the film’s cast as yet, it sets the tone for the feature. Bheed’s tagline states, ‘Our darkest times in black and white.” The director told Variety why the makers decided that the story should be told in black and white. He shared, “Bheed is a story of the most perilous times which changed everything for humanity. The key objective of shooting the film in black and white was to showcase how the visuals of the social disparity during India’s lockdown were strikingly similar to what people went through during the 1947 India partition. This story is about people whose lives changed in a snap and the colors from their lives were lost when the border was drawn within the country.”

Rajkummar seems to be playing the role of a police officer while Bhumi Pednekar essays the role of a doctor. Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Dia Mirza, Virendra Saxena, Aditya Shrivastava, Kritika Kamra and Karan Pandit are also part of the ensemble cast for the film. Produced by T-Series and Benaras Mediaworks, Bheed will be released in theatres on March 24, 2023.