Dedh Bigha Zameen

Dedh Bigha Zameen (transl. One and a half bighas of land) is a 2024 Indian Hindi-language drama film written and directed by Pulkit and produced by Karma Media And Entertainment. The film features Pratik Gandhi and Khushali Kumar in the lead roles.^[1][2][3][4] The film premiered on JioCinema on 31 May 2024.^[5]

Dedh Bigha Zameen
Official release poster
Directed by	Pulkit
Written by	Pulkit
Produced by	Shailesh R Singh Suunil Jain Hitesh Thakkar
Starring	Pratik Gandhi Khushalii Kumar
Cinematography	Kumar Saurabh
Edited by	Zubin Sheikh
Music by	Arko Rochak Kohli Anurag Saikia
Production company	Karma Media And Entertainment
Distributed by	JioCinema
Release date	31 May 2024 (2024-05-31)
Running time	106 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Plot

Anil, a 28-year-old wheat seller, lives with his wife, mother, and sister. Excited for his sister Neha's marriage to Ajay, a soon-to-be govt servant, Anil agrees to a dowry. To fund it, he plans to sell his late father's land, only to find it's under litigation by MLA Amar Singh. He meets MLA with request to regain possession of his land for which MLA agrees. Later when he returns, the police arrest him for nothing. He realises that the broker has manipulated in favor of MLA. Sister's marriage is cancelled as she is missing or has been kidnapped. Broker confesses after being beaten. An MLAs goon shoots Anil. He dies is the climax.

Cast

• Pratik Gandhi as Anil Singh
• Daya Shankar Pandey as Anil's uncle
• Khushalii Kumar as Anil's wife
• Vinod Nahardih as Father
• Prasanna Bisht as Neha Singh: Anil's younger sister
• Neeraj Sood as MLA Amar Singh
• Durgesh Kumar as Avdesh Gupta: Amar Singh's party worker
• Faisal Malik as Inspector

Production

The principal photography of the film began on 15 August 2021 in Jhansi^[6][7] and wrapped September 2021.^[8]

Soundtrack

The music for the film is composed by Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Rochak Kohli, Anurag Saikia. Lyrics are written by Arko Pravo Mukherjee, Manoj Muntashir, Rashmi Virag.

The song "Zidd Na Karo" is a remake of some part the song Say Aaj Jane Ki Zid Na Karo', and sung by Farida Khanum.

Track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Zidd Na Karo"	Manoj Muntashir	Rochak Kohli	Stebin Ben	4:32
2.	"Musafir"	Arko	Arko	Jubin Nautiyal	3:27
3.	"Chota Sa Mann"	Rashmi Virag	Anurag Saikia	Anurag Saikia, Raghav Chaitanya, Ritrisha Sarmah	4:10
4.	"Musafir" (Film Version)	Arko	Arko	Arko	3:17
Total length:					15:16

Reception

Deepa Gahlot of Rediff.com rated 3/5 stars and observes "Pratik Gandhi once again proves that he is an actor who can bring any character to life with his dedication to his craft and instinctive understanding of what the role requires."^[9] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave 2 stars out of 5 and said in his review that "Pratik Gandhi is in nearly every frame of the film - that isn't a bad thing at all - but the maker of the film would have done well to give the supporting actors more to do."^[10] Dhaval Roy of The Times of India rated 3/5 stars and stated that "The movie is worth watching for Pratik Gandhi's performance and the gritty portrayal of a common man's struggle against corruption and injustice."^[11] Sonal Pandya of Times Now gave 2.5 stars out of 5 and said "While the milieu and narrative in Dedh Bigha Zameen is strong, its execution is wobbly, especially in the acting department. Gandhi carries the film, but it often veers into melodramatic territory."^[12] Rahul Desai of Film Companion said in his review that "This film is a modern ode to Bimal Roy’s brand of neo-realism. But Dedh Bigha Zameen is more than half an acre short of its target. It’s so ‘real’ that it’s nearly boring. In fact, its decision to be boring is supposed to be brave.^[13]