Pratik Moitro deserves appreciation for directing the murder-thriller Minus 31: The Nagpur Files. The concept of the movie revolves around the phase of COVID and the difficulties that the commoners were facing in attaining medical facilities. The underbelly of Nagpur has been explored, where a racket has been functioning to illegally smuggle Remdesivir and supply it to the most affluent segments of society at a very high price. Will Preksha be able to expose the racket? Will the murder mysteries be resolved in Minus 31: The Nagpur Files? Let’s find out!
Spoilers Ahead
What Elements Of Class Segmentation Have Been Presented?
There are multiple elements of class segmentation based on caste that have been presented in Minus 31: The Nagpur Files. The tannery that Dayanand Pande had been running had been kept a secret from the outer world, as his caste did not permit running tanneries. There are several events that show Dayanand insulting Preksha Meshram, his accountant at the tannery, for belonging to a lower caste. When he sees her putting up a blue veil on her work desk, he thinks that it is a form of her rebellion against the upper caste, as the color blue is significant as a Dalit icon. When Dayanand learns of Meshram’s relationship with her brother-in-law Guddu, he threatens Guddu that he will throw him out of his company. He further humiliates Meshram by throwing his fidget spinner in the drain and asking her to pick it up for him. His hatred and disrespect for the lower castes of society is a major aspect that is sure to grab the attention of the audience. This is a significant reminder of how they are treated by the upper segments of society in many parts of India to date!
What Was Preksha Meshram And Sandy’s Motive?
Meshram and Sandy had a world of their own, as they were engrossed in a world of their own, making pop videos on social media and gaining more followers. Their art form was a channel for them to vent their hatred for the upper segments of society. Meshram hated her desk job at Dayanand’s tannery, yet her humble background forced her to become a slave to him. Later, when Meshram and Sandy get to know about the hidden Remdesivir at the tannery, they jump at the opportunity and steal a few packets. After selling them, they get enough money to make their video, as the medicine was in high demand and the clients were paying high amounts to get them. Sandy asks Meshram if she wants to live in poverty for the rest of her life and asks her to steal more of the packets. When she goes to the tannery to steal more of those packets, Dayanand catches her red-handed, and when an altercation takes place between them, she hits him hard in the head, leaving him gravely injured. Later, a strange man comes in and asks Dayanand about the stocks of the medicine, and when he is unable to answer him, he kills him. He also murders Meshram, as she was there on the spot and had been a witness to Dayanand’s murder.
What Was Preksha Sharma’s Relationship With Her Father?Â
Preksha Sharma is an honest police officer who takes after her father, who was previously in the police. She was his sole caretaker after he had lost his job after losing one of his arms in an encounter with a robber. She shared a bittersweet relationship with her father, as they are often seen fighting but exchange warm hugs in order to resolve their issues. On one occasion, when Preksha has a falling out with her father, she has a nightmare where she sees her father striking her with a scale for coming home late from school, and then she sees a fire breaking out. It is possible that Preksha could have had childhood traumas because of her strict father. This could have been a reason for the strained relationship between the father-daughter duo, which is brought out on certain occasions. Her father, however, gives her the advice to act smart rather than try to portray her bravado to the world, as he had achieved nothing in his entire life in trying to be brave.
What Was Nanabhau Deshmukh’s Motive?
Nanabhau Deshmukh, the minister, was involved in the illegal trafficking of Remdesivir along with Dayanand Pande. When he saw him as a threat to his business, he got him killed by a contract killer. When the killer could not get the whereabouts of the medicines from Dayanand, he thought that he was betraying Nanabhau and murdered him. It is possible that Dayanad’s wife, Shakuntala, was involved with Nanabhau in getting her husband murdered so that she could usurp his business and property. When Nanabhau sees Preksha Sharma investigating the murder of Dayanand very meticulously, he gets alert and tries bribing her by offering her opportunities to get her a flat that she had always dreamt of buying at a very nominal price. It is also possible that DSP Rahi had been trying to sabotage the case, as she was working for Nanabhau. On seeing that Preksha was investigating the case and taking it in the right direction, she asked her to stay away from the case and handle it herself. Later, when Preksha throws stones at her house in a rage, Rahi gets hold of footage of that and suspends Preksha. Despite the suspension, Preksha does not stop investigating the case on an individual level.
What Does Preksha Sharma Do In The End?
On further investigation, she finds out the secret of Remdesivir storage in the tannery from Sandy. She goes there along with Sandy and Gautam, and as they are unloading the boxes of medications, they are attacked by Nanabhau’s killer. He takes them captive, but Preksha somehow manages to free herself and the others. She threatens the killer to burn down all the boxes if he does not tell her the truth. He tells her the entire story about how he killed Dayanand on Nanabhau’s instructions and later murdered Meshram to cover it up. Later, the murderer tries attacking them again, and they somehow manage to kill him and escape the place with the medicines. Unfortunately, Gautam gets shot in the leg, and Preksha takes him to the hospital. On reaching the hospital, she finds that people are dying from the shortage of Remsdesivir. She hands out the medicines to the people in the hospital to save their lives. Later, when the media asks her about the whereabouts of the medications, she remembers what her father had told her about always acting smart in life. She says that she was just a medium, and it was Nanabhau who had asked her to supply the medicines in the hospitals.
She had understood that speaking against Nanabhau in front of the media would turn him against her, which would put her life in danger. She had instead chosen to create a noble image of Nanabhau in front of the media so that she could earn his favor. Later, we see her sitting in her dream flat with her family and having a nice time. This signifies how the corrupt system had taken the good out of an honest police officer and made her take favors from vile men like Dayanand. However, Sandy turns against her and is seen throwing firebombs at her house to threaten her. He had turned against Preksha because he could not benefit from selling the medicines while she was enjoying the perks of them by supporting Nanabhau in front of the media.
Final Thoughts
The fascinating high-profile murder mystery Minus 31: The Nagpur Files has a unique plot, making it quite different from all the other murder mysteries that I have ever watched. Preksha is seen to have an uncanny similarity with Preksha Meshram, as their names are the same and even their personalities are shown to match. When their lives are placed parallelly, they seem to be the same characters but with different backgrounds. It is possible that Preksha Sharma could be related to Preksha Meshram, as she is seen to become exceptionally upset upon the discovery of her dead body. Minus 31: The Nagpur Files makes us crave a second part of it, as many questions have been left unanswered. Has Preksha Sharma been planning something bigger by supporting Nanabhau? What was Shakuntala’s actual motive? The murderer’s identity and Guddu’s motive have also not been explored in depth. There are several loose ends in the plot that can only be resolved through a sequel to the film.
