Peepli live: a sociopolitical satire

It is hard not to notice and feel the absurdity which is considered so normal in today’s “free media world”

Told in utterly simple manner, Peepli Live is a story of the people living on their own. They are not ruled by any government or god; they are driven by the struggle of survival. The only truth that they know of is about their sole human existence in this world and its difficulties.

The film is set in an Indian village, which is still far away from India’s growing urban centers. Launching space ships and planning for manned space missions in future is one thing, but farmer’s suicides next door are something you cannot ignore, while just looking into the sky.

It is interesting to see how common people react when they are in absolute belief that the system they are living in, has nothing to do with them. Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Rajpal Yadav), two major characters of the film have no expectations from the system, but they have a hope in some of the local political figures. They know that it is hopeless to struggle in order to save their decades-old land foreclosure from the government, so they go to the local political figures for help where they are met with disappointment but at least they asked and confronted someone, which is not the case with the invisible government in their immediate lives. They do not know where government “lives”, how they can access it and tell her that they will die if they loose their land. State policies only exist for them to sanction useless “Lal Bahadur” (water hand pump), which they are expected to get installed from their own pockets. Religion also seems to be no existent to them, and like any other “below the poverty line” poor, they also do not seem to care about it.

The promotional campaign of the film set very high expectations, and watching Peepli Live met those expectations with mixed emotions. The dialogues are done brilliantly, which matches the pace of the story and its characters. The actors, whether they speak or not, leave a continuing impression each time they appear on the screen.

The treatment of the film is rough and ready, very non-glamorous, which seems more realistic and supports the story and its characters. Forget about the typical villagers painted in Bollywood films, like women wearing pigmented shalwar qameez with fancy embroidery and men in white dhotis, the film even avoided the “touch” that some film makers feel important to make things and characters “presentable” for camera. It can be compared to the cliché to see a Muslim male character in strange-cut beard and women covered in black veil from head to toe. The farmers looked farmers here, poor as they are, rather than actors in a film about poor farmers.

The depiction of media and its greed for high television rating points (TRP) in the film is shown intelligently. Media converts Natha’s village in a full-throttle circus with all its props. Brainless reporters get into Natha’s home and show whatever they can, even when he goes out for poop. A reporter, done with the immediate Natha story updates for her channel, sits in his small house and for in-depth analysis, reports; “Now we are in Natha’s room, as you can see how Natha’s clothes are hanging on the wall.”

It is hard not to notice and feel the absurdity which is considered so normal in today’s “free media world”.

Ironically, nobody notices a poor farmer digging his own grave nearby. He actually sells the soil from the land for his living. One reporter comments on the emaciated, continuously working farmer, “kia khazana khud raha hai bhanchud! (What is this mother-fucker digging for, a treasure?)”. Few days later the farmer is found dead in the dig. The symbolism used here is very strong; to survive you struggle very hard, but eventually die because you struggled beyond your individual possible powers.

As a very small amount of prime time television news is for development issues today, which is of course connected with the TRP, channels seems to be going crazy in finding flare in stories. Each story needs to have an angle which is unique, ethical or unethical, and must create great sensation that audience won’t dare to touch the remote.

The film somehow makes you float in between humor and pity for its characters, which are trapped in an evil system they do not understand at all. The film does not explain conditions faced by the farmers related to their farming and livelihood. May be because of this particular reason the film fails to develop a relationship between its viewers and protagonist. The simplicity of the Natha is obvious, that he does not carry any so-called morals and comes out straight as he is. On the overall canvas of the film, Natha fails to reflect the need to be understood as a farmer, a struggling, hardworking human being striving to survive.

Apart from its small blemishes, Peepli Live is a very intelligent film. Its music and lyrics are done with folk sensibility, so the whole package of characters and story seems well embedded into the core concept of the film. Glamour is non-existent, as it is in reality of the villages across south-Asia.

Natha asked his elder brother Budhia in the first dialogue of the film; “Bhaiya, jameen chali gayi tou ka ho ga? (What will happen if we lose our land?)” That’s the questions which remained unanswered throughout the movie by all the power actors including media, politicians, bureaucracy and the system itself. Nobody dares to reply, or nobody has an answer for Natha, who ends up working on a metropolitan construction site.

Applause to writer and director Anusha Rizvi, and producers; Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao for making Peepli Live, one of the finest films we all will remember.