Movie Review: Peepli (Live) – ‘SANSANI Khabar’ at its best! !

Undoubtedly, one of the year’s anticipated flicks, Peepli Live has already bagged its first recognition by winning the Best First Feature Film award at the Durban International Film Festival. At the helm of this satire-marries-pragmatism film, Aamir Khan dons the producer’s hat, allowing debutant director Anusha Rizvi (NDTV ex-journalist) to take charge of the film, which is a take on the role of government and media in farmer suicides that have been plaguing the country over the past decade.

After the ‘Peepli Live’ special screening for cast & crew held earlier this week, Salman Khan didn’t allow Aamir Khan to touch him. His reason? - He was afraid that he would turn into gold, as he believes Aamir possesses the ‘Midas touch’. By no chance can we disagree with Salman. Gold? Not so sure, but Aamir’s touch sure holds the ‘movie hit karne ka formula’!

2007 – Taare Zameen Par, 2008 – Ghajini, 2009 – 3 Idiots, for the past few years, Aamir Khan has set trends, broken records, given Bollywood cinema a new dimension. When filmmakers were going full-on commercial and skeptical about dabbling in untrodden subjects, Aamir Khan boldly played and received acclaims for real-life subjects like education system, parental sensibilities etc. Be it in front of the camera or behind (in the capacity of producer), Aamir’s films are a great example of the perfect blend of masala and a thought-provoking message. His most awaited film, Peepli (Live) is no exception to this rule.

Set in a small village in rural India, Peepli Live is a candid narrative of farmers Natha (Omkar Manikpuri) & older (more crafty) brother Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) who are deep-neck in debts, whose land is to be auctioned, owing to an unpaid loan. The only way out as Natha & Budhia see is a government plan, which provides monetary compensation to dependants of farmers, who commit suicide. While Natha is still contemplating, his mother (Farrukh Jaffer) & wife (Shalini Vatsal) indulge in their routine saas-bahu squabbles; his son pesters him to go ahead with the suicide, so he can work his dream of becoming a policeman with the money.  Before Natha can give his plan an outcome, word spreads & news channels come sniffing for what we know in this age as ‘Breaking News’. With elections in the offing, and media swooping in, netas, political parties and bigwigs all jump in to get their share of limelight and fill vote banks. While Natha wants to escape all the hoopla surrounding his life (or death), sleepy Peepli is caught in a 24/7 frenzy transforming it into the great Indian TAMASHA (with mela and all)!

Will he, won’t he?; while the viewers stay glued to the TV sets, forms the remainder plot.

Caught in the chronicles of Natha’s life is ambitious television reporter Nandita Mallik (Malaika Shenoy), shrewd minister (Naseerudin shah) conniving CM (Yugal Kishore), local journalist Rakesh (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), among the many other intriguing characters.

Debutant director Anusha Rizvi and co-director Mahmood Farooqui have done a spectacular job at working a script as delicate as Peepli Live. Farmer suicides are a huge cause of concern and sensitive to the millions who live thru it, yet treatment of the subject highlights immense research, maturity and empathy on the filmmakers’ side. Cinematography and art direction are perfectly synchronized to the theme. Dialogues are astute, in equal doses thus never going overboard in the gamut of emotions.

Needless to say, all the characters put in genuine acts, totally enjoyable, don’t emulate or mimic, and refreshingly don’t try too hard. The entire cast right from the protagonist to the supporting are superlative. Theatre experience is distinctive and prominent in the performances of Omkar Manikpuri & Raghubir Yadav who completely shine throughout as the distraught hapless class of people caught in the socio-economic circus. Malaika Shenoy and Nawazudin as reporters are apt, bring confidence and subtlety to their roles. But my hot favorite is Farrukh Jaffer as ‘Amma’ – brilliantly charming, powerful delivery, highly commendable.

A few minutes into the film, the narrative is as engrossing or entertaining as watching the live late-night news broadcast. While we have been witness to many films’ unraveling the scheming minds of unscrupulous politicians, the manner in which the film explores the inappropriate behavior of the media is truly remarkable and a major triumph. Yes, the film does tend to be slow and repetitive at points, and the film does not have many LOL moments or love angles, but the overall narrative is tight and smart. There are chances that the film’s biggest advantages (simplistic approach and cast) would turn out to be a disadvantage as urban cinegoers still prefer light-weight comedies and rom-coms with heavy duty star casts.  

Peepli Live is a film with an earnest message, approach and story and it certainly deserves its place at the box office. This film further strenghtens the fact that content is king and you don't need big names to make a good film. Recommended.