REVIEW: Peepli Live

MEDIA CIRCUS

It is to the credit of Anusha Rizvi, that she chose to make a realistic film set in rural India,  and got Aamir Khan’s Bollywood clout behind it.  Farmer suicides in Indian villages is an issue that doesn’t even create a buzz in the media anymore, except maybe adding a number to the statistics.  Two excellent Marathi films—Gabhricha Paus and Jhing Chik Jhing have been made and a  really powerful documentary, Nero’s Guests.  After these, Peepli Live, with all its merits tends to leave one a bit underwhelmed.

Rizvi’s point is not so much rural poverty as it is media insensitivity and venality —and this has been dealt with in films like Front Page, Network, Ace In The Hole, and many others.  Anyone who watches the news, knows how sensational and superficial television news can be, there is no great revelation here.  In so many films, elections and caste politics are used as triggers, that’s no  big deal either.

What Rizvi does, is make people laugh at poverty and death, instead of evoking compassion for the poor who are forced to die because they cannot repay loans of tiny amounts that urban rich probably blow up in one evening at a pub.  When a film with mainstream backing had the opportunity to wring the conscience of people, all it does it entertain them with satire and some black humour.  The young urban rich for whom poverty is as alien as ET,  will see the film, enjoy it, and come out feeling nothing for Natha (Omkar Das) and his desperately poor family.  He and his brother Budhia (Raghuvir Yadav) are cutely dopey, his wife is a dragon—how cute—and that foul-mouthed old mother, is a laugh riot.  Haha, how funny! Those media people—especially the one who analyses Natha’s excrement--- are so weird!

Nobody expected a feature film to go deep into socio-economic conditions in villages, or political opportunism, bureaucratic corruption, government indifference and all that.  But still, superficiality is always excused when it comes to entertainment.

Rizvi’s dialogue is sharp, Shankar Raman’s visuals adequately shorn of glamour,  the characters look and speak like the people they play, whether it is an elitist English TV journalist (Malaika Shenoy) or a small town Hindi reporter (Nawazuddin).

Under the haha, the real story is that of the poor, starving man who dies while a media circus gathers outside the home of Natha, who only threatened suicide.  Rizvi accuses the media in the film of not being sufficiently interested in that man, but she doesn’t care either.  People actually dying of hunger don’t interest anybody—because you can’t laugh at them.  And if you can, then it says more about you than about the objects of the film’s satire.

Still, the film is to be commended for at least trying to do something other than making ‘it’ stars parade in designer clothes at foreign locations.  Peepli-like villages are where the other half lives, and thanks to Anusha Rizvi and Aamir Khan for reminding us of it.

Comments

[Hitesh Sharma]

Hi Deepa,

I think Anusha has kept farmers' suicide as a central theme. We are familiar with the media circus and possibly identify with this more than the main theme of farmers' suicide. There is a character called Hori Mahato (as my friend Dhvanit pointed out that this character is borrowed from Godaan of Munshi PremChand) who dies without any tamashaa. His death in the film is responsible for Nawazuddin confronting his ideal - Malaika Shenoy.
I loved this treatment. The issue is there and lurking all around.

[Deepa Gahlot]

Hi Hitesh,

My point is that they didn't have the guts to make a film about Hori. They didn't have the guts to make a film on the devastation of a family when the farmer commits suicide. Because they also want profits, and these days who will see a 'depressing' film? Bimal Roy had the guts to make Do Bigha Zamin on the same subject (minus the media) in 1953...did he try to make you laugh or 'entertain' you? If audiences can't face up the the ugliness of their country, then let them watch Aisha. Don't entertain them with poverty.

[Harsh]

Hi Deepa

Yes, largely the message is muddled by the comic packaging, but then one can hope that a few wud care to notice & sensitise to the issue despite the humour. If only movies like Aisha are dished out, due the audience's lack of guts more than the filmmaker's, that wud be even an even sadder state...atleast the multiplex audience has some peek at the state of affairs in the country (& there r many who need this reality check)

[Bharat Singh]

Hi Deepa
I can't seem to agree that they didn't have guts to make a film on Hori. What would be the point to make such a film in today's India. It would have suffered the ignominious death that sadly the farmer have experienced. Do Bigha Zameen worked because there was an audience for it. Peepli works because it was able to get today's audience to view it and bring such a sadly prevalent situation to the forefront using the satirical comment on today's media. Even recently famous commentaries such as Fahrenheit 911, Sicko etc. work on the premise of bringing out the ludicrousness of the situation with black humor. People will laugh, but the little voice in them will make them think. Like mine did when I saw Peepli Live.

[Rajesh Kumar Singh]

Are we analysing a film or discussing a serious socio-political-economic issue? Do Beegha Zameen was not a big hit either, neither is Peepli Live. Peepli Live is a riskier film to make. Putting up an unglamorous character like Natha as the chief protagonist is a bold move. Casting Balraj Sahni in Do Beegha Zameen and Raj Kapoor in Teesari Kasam were convenient compromises. Had Anusha agreed to cast Aamir in Natha's role, she would have made the same mistake. She had the guts not to fall for that temptation and the integrity to stay true to her vision. Her concern for the marginalised class also comes through clearly in the film. She has not tried to evoke pity for her characters, since she considers them her own. Do Beegha Zameen was designed to evoke pity, following the neo-realist trend and approach. Anusha has succeeded in portraying the pitiable, and ugly state of the media, the political class, sundry social activists, and even the red radicals. She has also underlined her message through Hori's sub-plot. She has been constantly saying that her film is not about the farmer's suicide yet some of us keep repeating the theme endlessly. In Peepli Live no farmer has committed suicide. Natha and Budhia just talk about this in their drunken state. There are other aspects of the film that can be discussed threadbare and then probably the cinematic value of the film can be better comprehended.

[S Sethi]

I beg to disagree with the interpretation of the medium (satire) of this movie as insensitive. A satire by definition is designed to evoke feelings of ridicule about a deplorable subject -- in this case, the state of many affairs in India (such as politics and policies, trp-pull journalism, rural-urban divide, bottled water, the place of professional ethics in a bottomline-driven world, and many other contrasts that are touched upon in this movie). A tragedy is not per se a superior medium of expression than a satire, it is just a different medium. Hence a “Do bigha..” like treatment would not necessarily be the salvation of Peepli. And again, I did not see this movie as one about farmers’ suicides either (unlike Ghabricha Paus, which, in fact, is a movie on this issue. And which, btw, had it’s own share of laughter-evoking moments). The suicide aspect just happens to be the refrain – something that the plot centers around , and one example of the extremities of existence in India being depicted. At best, the movie is a satirical take on prime-time TV journalism and an interesting plot that weaves together the contrasts that a privileged minority has come to accept as a given.. as a price for the development of this development-starved economy. This view of development is totally oblivious to the question “development for who? and at what cost?” OR “where does this path of development lead to?” It doesn’t recognize the face of those we “sacrifice” at this altar of development or even acknowledge their presence. The move is a shake-out, a reminder. And why should it be something else? It is not the most original piece of art on this subject. Yet, it is very relevant and fresh in its subject and true in its execution. I realized later that Hori Mahato is a Premchand character of yore. The detailing in this move is exceptional by Bollywood standards (and beyond), and I personally enjoyed it. Any guess which company Sonmanto is?

[Deepa Gahlot]

All the points above taken... but I still think poverty and death are serious issues...most viewers I know came out of the film quite unaffected by the cause. And farmers are protesting against the insensitivity of the film.

[Deepa Gahlot]

Pretty obvious Sonmanto is Monsanto!