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The past weekend has felt steeped in the arts. If Michael, the biopic, leaned into music, the lesser-known Nukkad Natak (dropping on OTT) focused on the performing arts. What connects the two is simple: they make you care about what’s unfolding on screen.
Nukkad Natak has been quietly making headlines, first for securing a theatrical release earlier this year despite limited screens. Mounted on a shoestring budget by a small team, the film follows Molshri (played by Molshri) and Shivang (Shivang Rajpal), members of their college theatre society. After being expelled for theft, they are offered a shot at re-admission by the college director: help five children from a nearby slum get into school, and they can complete their course. What follows forms the rest of the narrative.
Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar, this one hour forty five minute film gets an essential detail right. Its protagonists feel authentic, with any trace of filmi exaggeration kept at bay. Casting unfamiliar faces, except Danish Husain, works in its favour, lending the story a rawness that feels earned. The first half benefits from this restraint and remains engaging.
Where the film falters is in its tendency to stretch itself thin. It attempts to weave in themes like identity struggles, which feel underdeveloped and largely disconnected from the central narrative. This makes parts of the film slightly adrift. The second half, however, finds firm footing as it zeroes in on the central challenge. The emotional, logistical struggles of the two leads are portrayed with sincerity.
The title, though, arrives at its full meaning a little too late. While the film initially suggests a deep engagement with the titular art form, it is only in the climax that the true power of street theatre is meaningfully realised. When it does, it leaves an impression, even if one wishes it had arrived sooner.
Molshree and Shivang pull off their roles very well. Nirmaa Hajra, in particular, as Chhoti, does a convincing job. The music by Parthhesh Menon and lyrics by Yogesh Dimri go well with the proceedings.
Overall, Nukkad Natak is a sincere, if slightly uneven, ode to grassroots storytelling. It wanders and overreaches at points, but its heart is firmly in the right place. When it finally leans into the spirit of street theatre, it finds its purpose, just like the two main characters. You walk away not with a perfectly crafted film, but with one that reminds you why art connects, when logic may not.
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