Filmmaker Hansal Mehta took to social media to praise director Anubhav Sinha's soon-to-release film Bheed. The film, which is led by Rajkummar Rao and Bhumi Pednekar, presents the plight of migrant workers who were forced to return to their native places after Indian announced lockdown in 2020. Comparing the ensemble cast of the film to that of critically acclaimed 2003 film Maqbool, Hansal appreciated the film. Bheed also stars Dia Mirza, Pankaj Kapur, Ashutosh Rana, Kritika Kamra and Kumud Mishra. Maqbool had Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Naseeruddin Shah, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur and Piyush Mishra in the cast. Ever since the film's teaser released, it has created discussion around the way the film is presenting migration and comparing it to the Partition. However, according to Hansal, with Bheed, Anubhav is on the top of his filmmaking game. Hansal posted the poster of the film and wrote in the tweet, "#Bheed in theatres tomorrow. This film besides being an important document of our times is dramatic and engaging with perhaps one of the best ensembles since Maqbool. @RajkummarRao is superlative in his portrayal of a conflicted ‘in-charge’. @anubhavsinha is on top of his game. Check out Hansal Mehta's post - #Bheed in theatres tomorrow. This film besides being an important document of our times is dramatic and engaging with perhaps one of the best ensembles since Maqbool. @RajkummarRao is superlative in his portrayal of a conflicted ‘in-charge’. @anubhavsinha is on top of his game. pic.twitter.com/UEMZBEuNze — Hansal Mehta (@mehtahansal) March 23, 2023 Bheed's teaser had stirred a controversy with the migration of 2020 being compared to the Partition. The film invited criticism from a section of audience, tagging it as 'anti-national'. When the film's trailer released, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's voiceover announcing the lockdown was used as the introduction, combining it with the visuals of migrant workers walking on the road. However, the trailer was swiftly taken down and certain visuals were removed. Anubhav, in an earlier interview with indianexpress.com reacted to this change in the trailer and said, "There are more changes in the trailer, but this makes more news for you. Every film goes through various such challenges. In Thappad I wanted to use Amrita Pritam’s poem. I couldn’t use it so one day before the film release, I had to change it. “It didn’t matter to anybody, why? Did you ask me? I had to overnight write a poem, sync with a Punjabi lip sync. I was in Delhi, Kumud Mishra was dubbing it from Mumbai. I had to write a poem to match Amrita Pritam’s lip sync in Punjabi! That’s an interesting story, not this (removal of PM Modi’s voice over). Let’s talk about Bheed the story. I don’t want to distract people from the story of Bheed, as it’s way more interesting.”
