This post is an extract from Absolutely Filmy.
The author of Absolutely Filmy, Kenneth D’Souza gives his review for the much awaited Peepli Live, from Aamir Khan Productions with its unusual promotions. Centered around a village, Peepli, has become one more small budgeted movie to please audiences. Boooo to the biggies yet again! Now The movie is exactly what it supposed to be – a Satire. A satire about how much a man’s life is worth in rural India.
Gist: It follows the life of a family in Peepli of which Natha [Raghuveer Yadav] is a part of. The brothers lose their fields because they are unable to pay off the loan that they took to cover the treatment expenses of their sick mother. They approach the local ruling political member for help who suggests that they could as well commit suicide as the government has a scheme that provides 1 lakh to the grieving family. That’s when the madness starts. The media gets hold of the story about a live suicide bid and as it is election time there is plenty of politics afoot. The hullabaloo about Natha and his supposed intention to suicide then drags along the length of the entire story.
Made by a journalist turned film maker, Anusha Rizvi, Peepli Live captures the idea of rural India and the life of the people there perfectly. Being a journalist gave her a necessary insight into the world of media sensationalism. The Movie succeeds where it pokes fun at the TRP hungry channels and also at Government policies that don’t actually benefit the poor. But except for a few gems during the short 2 hour duration of the movie you will find the movie too slow paced. The first half flies by and the second half drags.
What I (Kenneth D’Souza) liked about the movie was how the sets were real, the accent perfected from series of long interviews and “costumes” actually procured from the villagers. Truly well researched. Casting is well done, the actors are really good especially the village bumpkin appearance and expressions of the ‘Reluctant Suicidee’ Raghuveer Yadav is enough to make you laugh. Where it fails are that there are some loose ends and for the fact that the movie ends too quickly after the drag.
A good attempt at telling people why India hasn’t improved, why farmers in India are still killing themselves, why News Channels have gone to the dogs and why the apathy of politicians towards the electorate doesn’t affect them (even 63 years after Independence). Good for one watch. Would have made a better documentary. Rating 8/10 for the research and acting put into it.
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