Peepli [Live]

Peepli (Live) is a movie which had enormous expectancy levels from the trailers and the very fact that it was produced by THE "Aamir Khan Productions" which had gave birth to many enchanting & consummate cinematic experiences on celluloid... It has absolutely educed even more than the hype it produced, with Anusha Rizvi, a débutante, furnishing an outstanding satire on the backdrop of Indian farmer's suicides...

Not getting into the plot, as most of them know it already... What makes this movie into an astounding cinematic experience, is its utmost natural narration and simplicity.. Whether it be the characters, situations, dialogs... all were just near to utmost realistic...! Humour element used throughout the movie was smart as a whip... Loved the movie for another factor, that it was not preachy at all... Ending which was terrifically weaved out, in some ways, reminds me of one of the greatest satires in Malayalam "Panchavadi Paalam"

Anusha Rizvi, being a débutante, doesn't feel like one as the handling of the subject was just awe inspiring... Music and BG were top class... Camera work was good...The screenplay and dialogs were just tight and perfect... Among the performances, the whole cast were literally living their characters in this movie which makes it even more special!

One the whole, one should give a whole hearted standing ovation to Anusha Rizvi and Aamir Khan for making this film a reality,which has an amazing potential to be India's iconic movie in the International circuit!

The film is a hard hitting satire about the country, its people and the living conditions. More importantly, it has exposed the Indian psyche. It shows that India is not run by anybody. It runs on its own.

The movie also depicts the news media in its true and natural color. I had personally once noticed that "Knee surgery for the PM" was the headline and "24 farmers commit suicide in a week" was under "News in brief" section. Some news channel report every news item as "Breaking news". Basically, they magnify, marginalize and sometimes distort any news depending upon who controls them. Everyone has vested interests.

All news channels have just one objective. Drive up their rankings. To do that, they will go to any extent.

The movie also depicts politicians in their true color. It is a known fact that they will do anything to win the elections. Well, you cant expect anything else from them because 99% of them are high class thugs.

The movie is not meant for the average Indian who expects the formula (1 hero + 1 heroine + villains + 4 love songs + i item girl song + 4 fight scenes) I loved the language used in the film. It is the way a farmer would speak. No fancy monologues (usually referred to as dialogues). There are a few bad words and I wonder what the impact will be if those are removed.

I strongly recommend this movie because the situations are quite funny and at times you will laugh like crazy.

So go ahead and enjoy!

Satire is always a tricky genre for directors. Always a possibility of making a mockery of a grave situation or making it too serious for the audience (especially Indian) to take it. This balancing act between the poignant and theatrical is a precarious one, which is why Anousha Rizvi's directorial debut is noteworthy. Rizvi, a former reporter/journalist from NDTV brings a more insightful approach to the problem of farmer suicides and dynamics of media coverage.

I am not a great fan of Indian cinema. But every once in a while a movie comes along that shows ambition and reach which is not reminiscent of our cinema in general. The script while focusing on the predicament of farmers also manages to bring in the role of the media and the politicians. Probably, one of the more well rounded scripts in Hindi cinema in recent times.

The plot:-" Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might have been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - "Will he or Won't he?" As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?"

The criticism levelled out at the film inspite of the positive reviews is the lack of empathy it generates for the state of the farmers. It is a fair argument if those were your expectations from the film. My take is that it wasn't and it shouldn't be a director's prerogative to "effect" the audience. Especially in a satire, where the prime motive is to poke fun at the theatrical failure of system and its participants. Be it "Dr. Strangelove or how I learn to stop worrying and love the bomb" , "Network" , "Wag the dog", "Jaane Bhi do Yaaron" or any other great satire, I never really think the writer was conscious of establishing sympathy or empathy for the characters. Humour in life and films was essentially developed to convey some real harsh absolute truths in a sugar coated manner. We from the cities who our so pre occupied with planning our weekend, our holidays, our Diwali shopping, job appraisal etc can't be realistically expected to be social workers and understand the true plight of the farmers after paying Rs. 200 for an A/c theatre with sofa seat. It is quite incredible how insulated we are from "less privileged".

Of the performances everyone if top notch. Raghuveer Yadav is an explosive talent and I am glad he got this role. On a slight negative, the gag got a bit stretched in second half which could have been edited by 5-10 minutes. It is always a risk in a satire, when unnecessary emphasis is added on an element that audiences have understood, in this case it was of media "sensationalization". I think it was truly insightful in showing political and media nexus and how the cover stories and sound bytes are planned for. Maybe after this, people consuming the news will be more discrete.

Two nights ago Iwas participating in an online live chat with Aamir Khan (well, along with some 13000 others from around the world) who along with wife Kiran Rao, served as producers for Peepli Live, and as a parting remarked, had urged his fans to encourage their friends, especially those who have never watched an Indian film before, to give this a go, because this is not quite like the stereotypical films Indian cinema churns out with larger than life heroes romancing heroines in fantasy dream worlds.

And it's true, not that Indian cinema has always stuck with that unmistakable notion of how it presents itself, as over the years I've seen independent efforts that churn out hard-hitting stories that are minus the celebrities, but almost always have a message it wants to tell. Peepli Live departs from the usual 3 hours with interval, song and dance routines, to touch on a stark social issue in India – that of poverty and the lives of the rural folk, how inept the government is in lifting its people out of such a plight, and the role of the media that can sometimes get out of hand with less than responsible reporting. Which more mainstream films like Rann and Raajneeti would have also touched upon, but minus the heartfelt comedy that this satire brought along.

Written and directed by Anusha Rizvi in her feature film debut, one cannot escape from the fact that her journalistic background may have paved the way at the harsh yet comical criticism of the media in general, where reporters scramble to scoop and spin their own tales of rural life, and are relentless in their interviews with just about anyone who has an opinion on the issue at hand, that of the voluntary death of one of their own. They poke their noses everywhere, and when things turn dull, even resort to fabrication or plain making a mountain out of a molehill. I cannot deny that part of the fun here is watching how television crew and reporters eagerly camp out, in media circus like fashion, in a fictional state and village of Peepli. Just to get a chance at exclusivity with Naatha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and brother Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) who seemed the smarter of the two.

These brotherly farmers open the film as we follow them to the city to seek a deferment in their bank loan, failing which the bank has decided to auction off their asset – their land. So an ominous note has rung out, since farmers without land means an automatic death sentence, especially when the land they live on not only provide sustenance, but that of a roof over their heads and that of the aged mother who's at odds with Naatha's wife, and children. They soon learn of an inexplicable government scheme whereby farmers who commit suicide get financial compensation, and soon decide that Naatha take up that offer. Overheard by a local newsman, this soon gets escalated, and the media descends onto the village to wait out and capture Naatha's death live.

Little do the brothers know, being so caught up in their plight of poverty, that their actions have repercussions on a bigger stage, one known as elections, and with politicians scrambling like mad to find an answer to this issue, because if anyone doesn't spin this properly, it'll translate to votes lost. And here Rizvi's subplot shines through again in her very pointed criticism of the way her government, and just about any other government, work, through the usual pointing of fingers between State and Federal lawmakers, and the half- baked schemes that they cook up that generally doesn't benefit anyone (other than looking good themselves), whether consciously knowing that it's a scam, or incompetently just aren't aware. Bootlickers and yes-men bureaucrats get shrewdly dealt with in the story as well.

In fact the slight comedy in the film worked wonders to sugar coat the hard hitting messages that Rizvi had intended to tackle, and frankly this may have dulled those messages a little, and ultimately leave one wondering if there's any genuine change that can be brought to tackle the problems at hand. Surely one cannot expect one film to change entire mindsets overnight, and at best, Peepli Live will leave one thinking about the issues, but unfortunately I suppose that's about where it'll stop at.

I'm not sure whether the usual audiences weaned on Bollywood fare may take to a film that's a social commentary on some of the biggest problems facing the country, since the enduring way of how cinema is presented provides pure escapism from common everyday problems, but Peepli Live should find its legs in the more patient, appreciative film festival circuit. Don't expect Aamir Khan to pop up at all in the film, but if you know how he works, then you'd know that his hand is probably in every aspect of this production.

Anusha Rizvi has a story to tell and she does it all too un-preachily. No sermons. No grandstands. Her narrative, taking care of every nuance, puts the point right across, and manages to move you. She takes a light- hearted approach to a serious issue. The satire, directed at the media and the government, tends to go tad bit overboard, but is hard-hitting and convincing, for most part. Laudable performances by theatre artists Omkar Das Manikpuri as Natha and Raghubir Yadav as Budhia, (Natha's elder brother). A first timer in the Hindi film industry, Omkar Das is sure to take you by surprise. You may not take to him instantly but his childlike vulnerability and subtle ways, win you over, as the story progresses. Be it his tripping in the gobar, or his confiding in Budhia that he doesn't want to suicide, or the tenderness with which he pats the goat, even as he lies cowering from his own set of woes. (Titbit - Apparently, Rizvi spotted Omkar Das at a play in Bhopal. Until then, Amir was suppose to play Natha) Raghubir Yadav is born to act. He emotes flawlessly. One such scene is where he is arguing with Natha over who should suicide. Within a second, he solemnly vows to suicide, all teary-eyed, in the next, he takes a 'relieved' drag off his beedi, having managed to convince innocent Natha to sacrifice his life ;) From the grouchy (yet entertaining) amma (Farookh Zafar), to Natha's nagging wife Dhaniya (Shalini Vatsa); from the B-grade Hindi news channel correspondent Deepak, to the stoic English news channel reporter Nandita (Malaika Shenoy), it's a perfect cast all the way. The film gets drab and predictable in parts but manages to leave an impact, nevertheless!