Red Alert! ~ 'Absolute Truth' ahead... Review on Red Alert

The first casualty of war is truth. I begin with this ultra-clichéd sentence only to surmise the film in a nutshell. It is easy to blame one side and put the burden entirely on their shoulders and then watch as an innocent bystander – guilt free. If that was indeed the case, then mosquitoes inIndia must be responsible for the largest genocide after Hitler.The burden of proof rests on their shoulders to prove their innocence. Of course, they never can, and for that, all Indians are thankful. But it isn’t the whole truth; the ‘absolute truth’ now, is it? Mosquitoes breed in stagnant water. This water which the humans have been careless with. They let the water stagnate and expect to be no consequences… Of course there willbe consequences, there are alwaysconsequences…

And now, every Indian hates the sight of mosquitoes. It’s always easier to swat them away, blame the blood sucking sons of bitches, than actually get at the root of the problem and eliminate it – no stagnant water! But no! That would mean admittingthat there was stagnant water in the first place and that stagnant water came from your owncarelessness, not the mosquitoes’ carelessness. That would mean admitting that you were wrong… and nobody likes that! Nobody likes to be told that they are wrong. Not by a giant or a mosquito.

If you apply this very simply analogy to the Naxalite insurgency/war/rebellion (whatever you want to call it), you have a very pertinent, yet confronting situation. Red Alerttreads this tightrope with aplomb. Making a film in India is notabout getting a point of view across. If you are not catering to the popcorn audience with KJO type cinema (also read as ‘entertainment’), you betterbe propagating a political agenda. Then again, that’s the case with almost any film maker. Kurosawa had to turn towards western cinema and Kubrick could never make Lolita the way he wanted. Examples are many.

Red Alerthowever, must be placed in a category of its own. And for the uniqueness of the film’s treatment, it deserves a viewing. Many time, I’ve come out, firm in my opinion that I ‘liked’ or ‘didn’t like’ this film. However, this time, I was plagued by a much larger possibility – is there something as ‘absolute truth’?

Plot:

Suniel Shetty is a cook who delivers food to a band of Naxalites hidden in the confines of the forest. He has a wife (Bhagyashree) and two kids and doesn’t want to get involved in the situation. He is caught in the crossfire and is forced to join the Naxals, led by Ashish Vidyarthi. There is Seema Biswas, Ayesha Dharker and an attempt at acting by Sameera Reddy, who relies on her dialogue delivery more than her cleavage for once. It works… almost. Shetty is turned towards the Naxalite cause. Then, he also gets to see the situation from the ‘other’ side (read the ‘official’ angle) and plunges into moral dilemma. He understands the passion of the Naxals, even if he considers it to be somewhat misguided when seeing the atrocities committed by them at large. The film draws a parallel from The Last King of Scotlandwith Shetty playing the role similar to that of the doctor James McAvoy, caught in the regime of Idi Amin (played by Forest Whittaker). However, Shetty draws a more harrowing a portrait of a man in dilemma, caught between two sides, always worried about his own fate and that of his family.

Themes:

Any system of government is flawed. It has it upside and downside. It often becomes easier to impose your ideology on the larger masses, with the perception that it is for the ‘greater good’. No one wants to be on the wrong side of history. History is written by winners, and you want to win, whatever be the cost. Life, in times like these, becomes a trifle matter and extremely dispensable. Seldom do we get to see points of view of both sides (Naxalite cause and the government) portrayed with such clarity on the big screen. Even though, by the end, it leans towards the ‘official’ angle, the film recognises both sides as having legitimate ideological differences. Red Alertmust be treasured, in that regard. It remains an apolitical film, interested mostly in depicting the current situation as it is, with all its flaws and pre-conceived notions.

More than that, it recognises that the root of the problem often gets lost in such cases. Ideological differences are such that reasoning is often sacrificed. The public is persuaded by emotion and selective manipulation more than anything else. It is like blindGloucester (the public) being led by mad Edgar (the cause) up an imaginary cliff. This is true for both sides (‘official’ and Naxalite cause). Justification is important. Both sides take solace from the fact that the end will justify the means… in reality, it seldom does.

Cast:

Suniel Shetty deserves an Oscar. This is undoubtedly the best performance of his career. Ashish Vidyarthy proves to be a worthy actor, standing alongside Shetty. All the female cast is wasted, which is a pity, considering the talent there. Nasseruddin Shah shines (surprise?) in a short appearance. The winner here is the script, characterisation and the clarity with which the film comes across on screen. I’m worried that it will not be a success considering the audience that it targets and the nature of subject matter. Nonetheless, it has my full approval. Try and find the ‘absolute truth’ in the lost pages of history… if it exists!!