Spoiler Alert: May contain brief description of a few scenes from the movie which will not impact the viewing experience.
Finally, got time to spend a nice Sunday and decided to watch the much hyped Peepli [Live]. Needless to say, it is totally worth it. Anusha Rizvi dished out a very tight script and directed the movie almost to perfection. The only sad part - this sort of a movie is a wasted effort with most of the Indian audience. Why would I say that? Do I consider myself to be the only smart one out there? Not really. But here is why.
As we all know from the trailers, this movie is a satirical description of the disturbing trend of farmer suicides in Vidharba and other agricultural belts in the country. It is a tough ask to depict something painful with humor thrown in and the movie does complete justice to the cause.
The character Natha pulls off an amazing role representing a farmer whose land is sold off due to his inability to pay the debt. He has no money to feed his kids and wife. Along with his elder brother, he runs around finding solution to his problem and the only solution seems to be suicide which would then lead to a handsome compensation by the government. Even this thought is disgraceful, when a man has to resort to killing himself for his family's survival. Throw in some politics, favors, media, dirty strategies by ministries we all are so aware of - and it leads to a heady concoction. However, the plight, morose expressionless faces and the message behind the human survival instinct is as lost to the audience who is busy laughing at the abuses hurled by characters in the movie as it is depicted to the media in the movie itself. A mockery of a mela when someone is about to die in the movie is strikingly similar to the mela watching the whole show.
And, in the end, nobody actually cares whether Natha lived or died. Both in the movie and in theater. In the movie, it was their job. In the theater, they just wanted to enjoy.
The real shame is - even in 2010, we as a nation can still accept the existence of countless Nathas without any qualms.
The character Natha pulls off an amazing role representing a farmer whose land is sold off due to his inability to pay the debt. He has no money to feed his kids and wife. Along with his elder brother, he runs around finding solution to his problem and the only solution seems to be suicide which would then lead to a handsome compensation by the government. Even this thought is disgraceful, when a man has to resort to killing himself for his family's survival. Throw in some politics, favors, media, dirty strategies by ministries we all are so aware of - and it leads to a heady concoction. However, the plight, morose expressionless faces and the message behind the human survival instinct is as lost to the audience who is busy laughing at the abuses hurled by characters in the movie as it is depicted to the media in the movie itself. A mockery of a mela when someone is about to die in the movie is strikingly similar to the mela watching the whole show.
And, in the end, nobody actually cares whether Natha lived or died. Both in the movie and in theater. In the movie, it was their job. In the theater, they just wanted to enjoy.
The real shame is - even in 2010, we as a nation can still accept the existence of countless Nathas without any qualms.
A very insightful review and yes, it is a shame that even though such films depict reality to an extent...people get done with their popcorns, get up and leave the theater, smudging the lines between fiction and reality.
ReplyDeleteNice article !!! I agree.. as much as I hate to say this, people seem to have become so accustomed to seeing misery around, it dos'ent stir them up anymore...
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