Aug 15, 2010 04:18 AM
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(Updated Aug 15, 2010 04:22 AM)
Peepli Live, Anusha Rizvi's film, is a film that takes us into a world that we have forgotten. A world that was in the periphery of my consciousness when I was growing up..thanks to Doordarshan and its programs like Krishi Darshan, Malgudi Days, Munshi Premchand ki Kahaniyan, DD sunday movies of the 60's, 70's era, and so on..but is now, almost absent from my mind.
The plot of Peepli Live, as you might know by now, is about Natha and his brother,who are farmers in Mukhya Pradesh, who have lost their land and are striving to make ends meet.To this end, Natha half- heartedly decides to take his life as suicides are rewarded monetarily by the government. Unfortunately for him, his dubious decision comes at a time when there are elections on the anvil, and the media is dying for a story that will regenerate TRP's. What ensues is a political-media generated circus that enfolds around Natha and his family, with everyone having a stake in Natha's suicide. Does Natha kill himself? Watch the movie to find out!
My take:
After a really long time, comes a movie that makes me think, feel, and applaud a movie-maker for having the courage to make a film that is truly different from the glossy, meaningless films that we have been subjected to this year.
Peepli Live is a satire in the lines of Jaane Bhi do Yaaron, that takes a massive dig at ALL the characters in the film. Yes, there are obvious villians a plenty in the form of the heartless, TRP oriented media, self serving politicians and local goons..but Natha's family is not exactly heroic either. Yes, they are farmers who are struggling to make a living and are hard done by the government...but poverty does not keep them from being just as manipulative and self serving as their urban, more well off contemporaries.
The conscience of the film is a periphery character called Hori Mahatho (similar to Munshi Premchand's hero of Godaan) who is just present in a few frames. Hori is a farmer whose land has been usurped, and is seen quietly and tirelessly working to make a living digging up dirt, and who just as quietly slips away from this world. His is the character that brings gravity and pathos to this satire.
There are laughs aplenty throughout the film, mainly due to the unending stupidity of the characters....but you dont leave the film feeling happy. What I felt was a deep sadness at having completely forgotten about the large part of my fellow indians that live in the villages. I had completely forgotten that people exist beyond the "India shining" media portrayal of my country. There were film makers of yore who set their films in villages and crossed the rural-urban divide (notably film makers like Manoj Kumar), but when was the last time you saw a film set in the rural milieu of 21st century India?
Peepli Live may not bring about a revolution or change, but what it does is atleast make us conscious of a world long forgotten. It makes us conscious of the diversity there is in our country, and think beyond the boundaries of our westernized, over-crowded metropolitan cities.
With regards to the technical aspects of the film...it has a wonderfully natural, believable group of actors, is short and crisp in terms of editing, has dialogues that fit the characters like a glove, fabulous soundtrack by Indian Ocean (love "Desh mera rang reziya babu"!), and a director at the helm who knows EXACTLY what she wants to convey, and does it with conviction.
Do not miss Peepli Live. For a passionate movie buff like me, Peepli Live gives me hope that there are still directors and producers in our industry who believe in telling a good story like it is :)
