Peepli (Live) (2010)

Contrary to my gut feeling Peepli Live wasn't too bad a movie to catch , especially when you are looking for entertainment in it's more rudimentary form.

Minimalist in her approach, The director of this movie has proved beyond a doubt that melodrama and reality are two very different and hardly reconcilable things. Bare naked in it's projection of Indian Villages, the movie is what Khosla K Ghosla was to the middle class. In fact one feels nauseatic watching those ridiculous 80's 90's flicks where village folk were depicted as specimens from a high end fancy dress exhibition. With damsels wearing mutlicoloured , skimpy clothes and men wearing hideous outfits bearing no similarity whatsoever with the actual village attires.

Peepli on the other hand treats everything as it is. The movie is devoid of glamour, any glamour. Which means the movie , given it's theme, is good.

There are no subplots which drag the viewer away into romantic liaisons. No sugary silver linings here.

The entire cast fits in well with the theme and also makes us wonder as to how can all those Khans, Kapoors , Khannas call themselves actors .I mean the actors in the movie didn't give away anything.

The script however was ridden with too many profanities for comfort. The movie could have done without them as well . But that's creative freedom and also gave some folks in the theatre something to cheer about.

The movie is good.

Fmovies: Story: Story of two farmers Face loosing their land for an unpaid Government loan. At the time of National Elections they seek help from a Local Politician who suggests to commit suicide to get the benefit to their families.

* The Director and Producer deserve thumps up for coming with a movie with current issue - Farmers committing Suicide. * You too would have noticed 'What the News Channels' Want?! They are also marketing something, yes SO CALLED NEWS. And they market like anything. 'Death Toll Reaches 50 and Expected to reach 100 by Tomorrow morning', 'Breaking New - MLA's Sister had Knee Injury' etc..

Bollywood - Its very happy see this kind of movies in an Industry where Actors become just a Marketing Executive for their loose Products. Though there are a lot of Directors who just copies and rips from Hollywood or South Indian Movies, there are also few and very few directors and Productions houses who try to come up with new Innovative ideas. UTV is one such Brand and its great to see Aamir Khan producing as Movie in the kind of changing Bollywood to more meaningful.

The style of Director is sharp and strong though the director missed to convey a message - but sticked in to the story and left no Message. The film explores the response of the media. Many Scenes of the film spoofs the Internet and TV Media and Politics. The Natural and Simple Narration will take you to those good old Days where only good movies where produced. Problems of Farmers was usual topic in Malayalam Movies but Post 2000 - this is the best movie about Farmers to come in India.

Bollywood rarely make Sensible movies and Rarely does the Fans make them Box Office HIT. Different Attempt is not accepted easily in North comparing to South of India (Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada) wishing to see more people watching this movie. Promoting this movie only makes Bollywood Look better. Let they come up with more meaningful Movies here after.

Bollywood is changing finally! Bigtime!! Makers are now finally shifting their focus on realistic movies rather than making movies having same old clichés and melodrama. Latest film to add in the list is Peepli Live. Produced by ever dependable Aamir Khan, the movie has no big name in the star cast but kudos to Débutante Director Anusha Rizwi's superb screenplay and direction and combining with monstrous marketing strategies by Aamir Khan this created waves worldwide.

The subject of the movie is simple yet thought provoking. As India moves to an industrialized economy, farmers are committing suicide. Self- serving politicians at all government levels have been unwilling or unable to do anything about this. While the movie might appear as a spoof on the farmer suicides but it ends up conveying much more and presents some shocking facts.

Peepli residents Natha(Omkar Das) and elder brother Budhia(Raghuveer Yadav)after losing their land to the bank for not paying up their loan take the jest seriously and decide to volunteer. Natha decides to commit suicide and it becomes a big news. Reporters Nandita Malik(Malaika Shenoy), Deepak(Vishal Sharma) and a local reporter Rakesh(Nawazuddin) along with others make it a big issue and eventually the positions of many ministers is at stake. What follows is a very well directed satire.

Anusha Rizwi has handled her directorial debut like a pro.The lingo is earthy and much humour is derived from the manner it is spoken by the characters. Anusha leaves no stone unturned to poke fun of vote hungry politicians. Acting Department is ruled by Omkar Das and Vishal Sharma. Expressions given by the former make his character very endearing and the dialogues spoken by the latter are hilarious. Raghuveer Yadav has enacted his role impressively! Nawazzudin is exceptional as the reporter whose conscience awakens. Shankar Raman's Camera work makes a good impact. Music by Indian Ocean is OK.

To conclude, I would say go for it is you really want to see bollywood coming of its age and of course because its an Aamir Khan Production.

My Rating: 7/10

Thanks & Regards

Peepli (Live) fmovies. (2/2)Actors have done their job in the most remarkable way.Raghuveer Yadav can win an Oscar for that but alas Academy is Bollywood- blind.Omkar Das is very natural.The actor playing reporter Deepak is a revelation.Aamir could have done a cameo.

(2/2)The story is a wonderful satire.Rizvi being a retired-reporter knew the nuts and bolts of the dirty business.The subplot of Hori Mehto remind us of Do Bheega Zamin.

(1/2)Direction of Rizvi collapsed in the last half hour of the movie.The subplot was wasted and climax was done in a hurry.

(2/2)The music/score is this year's best.Indian Ocean are superb.Chola Mati ke Raam,Mehngai Daayan,Desh Mera,Aadmi are all well crafted.

(2/2)Yes,the movie do have a X-FACTOR.Well paced and presented in the current inflation scenario.

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 does

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!