Kangana Ranaut’s Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata is a heart-wrenching account of the Cama Hospital episode during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Unlike many of the Taj Hotel or other landmarks movies, this movie gives more importance to the lesser-known heroes doctors, nurses, and workers who fought with such determination to save patients on one of India’s darkest nights.
Manoj Tapadia takes over the film and begins with the hospital life of everyday doctors and nurses and the daily routine, friends, and problems. This quiet start is the perfect cover-up for the fight that’s coming in the second half, in which the hospital is a place of siege.
The performances are the film’s strongest asset. Kangana Ranaut is a restrained and dignified version of Geeta Madhav—a nurse who is a strong woman with courage without the temptation to get into melodrama and is strong. Supporting actors Girija Oak, Smita Tambe, and Esha Dey are true to character and make it feel authentic, and the ensemble cast is believable and emotionally compelling. The cast has been praised for their sincerity, with some calling their performances “award‑worthy.”
The film does not have sensationalism on the screen. The cinematography captures the warm life in hospitals and the tense atmosphere of the attacks on the way it goes. The quietness and bravery in the film rather than graphic violence is so much better than the violence. But the background score was sometimes inconsistent, and it took away from the immersive feeling of the movie.
Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata is a good movie, as far as we are concerned. And although it doesn’t have great pacing and occasional dramatization, its sincerity with respect to ordinary courage makes it good to watch. It turns a forgotten chapter of 26/11 into a moving film about unsung heroes.
It’s a film about resilience and humanity in general. But the Cama Hospital incident draws out the story of 26/11 and teaches us that heroism is often found in ordinary people’s hearts.
