Peepli [Live]

(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.

Satire is always a tricky genre for directors. Always a possibility of making a mockery of a grave situation or making it too serious for the audience (especially Indian) to take it. This balancing act between the poignant and theatrical is a precarious one, which is why Anousha Rizvi's directorial debut is noteworthy. Rizvi, a former reporter/journalist from NDTV brings a more insightful approach to the problem of farmer suicides and dynamics of media coverage.

I am not a great fan of Indian cinema. But every once in a while a movie comes along that shows ambition and reach which is not reminiscent of our cinema in general. The script while focusing on the predicament of farmers also manages to bring in the role of the media and the politicians. Probably, one of the more well rounded scripts in Hindi cinema in recent times.

The plot:-" Natha a poor farmer from Peepli village in the heart of rural India is about to lose his plot of land due to an unpaid government loan. A quick fix to the problem is the very same government's program that aids the families of indebted farmers who have committed suicide. As a means of survival Farmer Natha can choose to die!!! His brother is happy to push him towards this unique 'honor' but Natha is reluctant. Local elections are around the corner and what might have been another unnoticed event turns into a 'cause celebré' with everyone wanting a piece of the action. Political bigwigs, high-ranking bureaucrats, local henchmen and the ever-zealous media descend upon sleepy Peepli to stake their claim. The question on everyone's lips - "Will he or Won't he?" As the mania escalates what will be the fate of Farmer Natha; nobody seems to care how he really feels?"

The criticism levelled out at the film inspite of the positive reviews is the lack of empathy it generates for the state of the farmers. It is a fair argument if those were your expectations from the film. My take is that it wasn't and it shouldn't be a director's prerogative to "effect" the audience. Especially in a satire, where the prime motive is to poke fun at the theatrical failure of system and its participants. Be it "Dr. Strangelove or how I learn to stop worrying and love the bomb" , "Network" , "Wag the dog", "Jaane Bhi do Yaaron" or any other great satire, I never really think the writer was conscious of establishing sympathy or empathy for the characters. Humour in life and films was essentially developed to convey some real harsh absolute truths in a sugar coated manner. We from the cities who our so pre occupied with planning our weekend, our holidays, our Diwali shopping, job appraisal etc can't be realistically expected to be social workers and understand the true plight of the farmers after paying Rs. 200 for an A/c theatre with sofa seat. It is quite incredible how insulated we are from "less privileged".

Of the performances everyone if top notch. Raghuveer Yadav is an explosive talent and I am glad he got this role. On a slight negative, the gag got a bit stretched in second half which could have been edited by 5-10 minutes. It is always a risk in a satire, when unnecessary emphasis is added on an element that audiences have understood, in this case it was of media "sensationalization". I think it was truly insightful in showing political and media nexus and how the cover stories and sound bytes are planned for. Maybe after this, people consuming the news will be more discrete.

I'm a native American and saw this movie in a theater with maybe 30 Indians (sorry, I'm old enough to find multiple ironies in that sentence). Anyway, I went into this movie with no expectations. Though I've seen a number of Indian movies over the last few years, I knew nothing of this author or director. I laughed out loud more than I have for any Hollywood movie this year. My cohorts found it even funnier than I, but I guarantee you that you don't need to know that much about Indian politics or media to get most of this satire.

It starts with a farmer deciding to commit suicide to get his family the $2000 that may save his farm from foreclosure. From there, the media and government turn it into a circus, stepping all over themselves in their self-serving ways.

It suffers only in minor ways from a few slow spots and odd shifts in tone, but these are worth sitting through. It's currently showing here only at a suburban Atlanta theater that shows a combination of H-wood and B-wood. This should have been picked up by some American distributer when it showed at Sundance. Hopefully, enough people will see it and generate the buzz to get it to a wider audience.

Peepli (Live) is a movie which had enormous expectancy levels from the trailers and the very fact that it was produced by THE "Aamir Khan Productions" which had gave birth to many enchanting & consummate cinematic experiences on celluloid... It has absolutely educed even more than the hype it produced, with Anusha Rizvi, a débutante, furnishing an outstanding satire on the backdrop of Indian farmer's suicides...

Not getting into the plot, as most of them know it already... What makes this movie into an astounding cinematic experience, is its utmost natural narration and simplicity.. Whether it be the characters, situations, dialogs... all were just near to utmost realistic...! Humour element used throughout the movie was smart as a whip... Loved the movie for another factor, that it was not preachy at all... Ending which was terrifically weaved out, in some ways, reminds me of one of the greatest satires in Malayalam "Panchavadi Paalam"

Anusha Rizvi, being a débutante, doesn't feel like one as the handling of the subject was just awe inspiring... Music and BG were top class... Camera work was good...The screenplay and dialogs were just tight and perfect... Among the performances, the whole cast were literally living their characters in this movie which makes it even more special!

One the whole, one should give a whole hearted standing ovation to Anusha Rizvi and Aamir Khan for making this film a reality,which has an amazing potential to be India's iconic movie in the International circuit!

The film is a hard hitting satire about the country, its people and the living conditions. More importantly, it has exposed the Indian psyche. It shows that India is not run by anybody. It runs on its own.

The movie also depicts the news media in its true and natural color. I had personally once noticed that "Knee surgery for the PM" was the headline and "24 farmers commit suicide in a week" was under "News in brief" section. Some news channel report every news item as "Breaking news". Basically, they magnify, marginalize and sometimes distort any news depending upon who controls them. Everyone has vested interests.

All news channels have just one objective. Drive up their rankings. To do that, they will go to any extent.

The movie also depicts politicians in their true color. It is a known fact that they will do anything to win the elections. Well, you cant expect anything else from them because 99% of them are high class thugs.

The movie is not meant for the average Indian who expects the formula (1 hero + 1 heroine + villains + 4 love songs + i item girl song + 4 fight scenes) I loved the language used in the film. It is the way a farmer would speak. No fancy monologues (usually referred to as dialogues). There are a few bad words and I wonder what the impact will be if those are removed.

I strongly recommend this movie because the situations are quite funny and at times you will laugh like crazy.

So go ahead and enjoy!