Peepli Live - Movie Review
Peepli Live – Movie Review
Anusha Rizvi directed Peepli Live, is a satire on the farmers' suicides and the role of vote-hungry politicians and the over-enthusiastic, TRP-seeking desperate news channels and the electronic media. The film takes a dive into the vote-thirsty politicians and bureaucrats in India and attempts to bring to light the plight of farmers and their struggle.
Peepli Live focuses on the poorest of the poor in India and it not only highlights the plight of a farmer in a tiny corner of a giant country, but also throws light on the varied people who exploit the situation to their advantage, right from the politicians to the bureaucrats to the television reporters to the local people. In fact, Peepli Live makes an attack on the functioning of media in India and how media persons, depicted as vultures, generally stoop to the lowest levels to increase the ratings of their television channels.
Any film either has the potential to touch you, or entertain you, or make you ponder. In that sense, Peepli Live does a good job of telling villager Natha’s story with a fair sprinkling of humour and heartwarming moments.
It has a huge cast, but its story focuses on Natha, a poor pot-smoking farmer in the village of Peepli who can’t pay back his government loan and risks losing his land. Thousands of farmers in financial trouble commit suicide every year in India. When Natha learns that the government will compensate suicide victims’ families with 1 lakh rupees, he considers giving it a try.
Natha's decision to give up his life reaches a local reporter and within days, crews of TV channels arrive at his village and transforms peepli into a media boomtown. Everyone from the wife to the children to the bed ridden, yet sharp-tongued old mother are "interviewed". The media sets camp outside his home and Natha's smallest movement is recorded. Competing channels keep an eye on each other, in case the other's got a lead and so on. They don't call it media circus for nothing. Natha is the talk of the town, he is on every channel, and the face of every magazine.At the site of the expected suicide, a mela comes up complete with tea, popcorn and rides for kids.
How a poor farmer’s plight becomes a tool in the hands of the media and politicians for personal gains is what Peepli Live is primarily about.
The high point of the film indeed is its smart and sassy script which is tight and witty at the same time and spreads the drama around the cast. But more than all this, it's the life-like portrayals that add a refreshing authenticity to the film. The concept is interesting. The media and politicians, along with the police, seem to be the two most abused group in the film.
There’s plenty of broad comedy. The production value has been kept high throughout. The filmmaker's storytelling style is sharp. Rural India has been captured amazingly. Its vast gallery of characters is brought alive by actors who, in keeping with the backdrop and the situations, look and sound real. The lingo is earthy and much humor is derived from the manner it is spoken by the characters. The message is strong and the tone has been kept light throughout, probably to reach out to a larger audience.
Peepli Live tells the story of today: Rural society, the games politicians play, the bureaucracy and the manipulative electronic media. It's a well penned and well executed film that deals with a serious issue in a witty and entertaining manner. Although very real, it creates a world full of vivid characters and incidents and keeps the viewer engrossed throughout.
Peepli Live is a film that would not only appeal to Indians, but is sure to reach out to audiences beyond India.
Director : Anusha Rizvi
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