Peepli a[Live]

Unable to pay off the bank’s loan Budhia (Raghuvir Yadav) and Natha (Omkar Nath Manikuri) stand to lose their ancestral land. Like millions of farmers across India they have no one to turn to and when they seek help from, Bhai Thakur (Sitaram Panchal), the local MLA, they are that the only way the government can help them is if they were to commit suicide. Burdened by sheer existence Budhia, who’s unmarried as opposed to Natha, decides to end his life but Natha won’t have any of it. The two brothers fight it out and ultimately Natha decides to end his life. They celebrate their last few troubled days and Rakesh (Nowaz), a local journalist, ends up overhearing an inebriated Natha’s plan. Miffed with his editor for not treating him well, Rakesh prints Natha’s story and sets off a chain of events. Spreading like a wildfire the story gets every news channel in the nation to descend upon the sleepy village of Peepli in order to capture the breaking news of the first farmer suicide on camera. Natha is unable to fathom the gravity of the situation and soon his life becomes a circus where every one- the local MLA, the state’s Chief Minister, the IAS machinery, the Agriculture Minster and even his own family starts playing him. Natha’s simple dream to free his family from the hardships ends up becoming a nightmare that sucks the life out of him.

Simply put Anusha Rizvi’s Peepli [Live] is a very well executed film that not only manages to address a serious political and social issue that has plagued India for some years now but also tells a compelling story. One of the reasons why Peepli [Live] works is the fact that it is written and directed by someone who is far removed from the escapist world of Mumabi filmmaking. Rizvi’s strong political identity administers a script that is deeply rooted in present times and yet never really takes over the narrative of the film. From planning a story just for TRPs, politicians out-maneuvering each other to remain ahead, the administrative services becoming a lapdog of those in power, the callousness of journalists in their bid to break a story, Peepli [Live] talks makes a bold statement about the sorry state of the manner in which this nation has been functioning. The scenes where the Block Development Officer tells the powers be that there isn’t a single scheme to help a distressed farmer who is still alive sums up the system’s apparent lack of empathy. Replete with black humor Peepli [Live] might just the likes of Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron as far as satire in popular Hindi cinema goes. More importantly by managing to bring forth a serious issue without being overtly heavy and yet not sugarcoat the proceedings like a Munnabhai Part 2 or 3 Idiots, Peepli [Live] manages to achieve some thing that most ‘issue’ based commercial films lack. The first half of Peepli [Live] is really tight and barring the song Mehangai Dayan, which is almost like an interlude, nothing is out of place. Rizvi gets a very gripping performance from her lead Omkar Das Manikpuri and the veteran Raghuvir Yadav, whose camaraderie with Manikpuri forms the backbone of the film. Most of the actors are from the late theatre legend Habib Tanvir’s group Naya Theatre and their excellent casting provides Peepli [Live] a very real and untreated feel. Rizvi’s dialogues provide all the actors especially Natha’s nagging wife Dhaniya (Shalini Vatsa) and his bedridden beedi puffin mother (Farrukh Jaffar) the true fabric to don. Additionally Vishal Sharma and Malaika Shenoy, who play the leading news reporters, get their nuances bang on. To some the ending of Peepli [Live] might seem weak and even unconvincing but the truth of the matter is this film isn’t like a television debate that promises to provide a solution by the end of the program. Cast:Omkar Das, Raghuvir Yadav, Shalini Vatsa, Farrukh Jaffar, Malaika Shenoy, Vishal Sharma, Nowaz, Sitaram Panchal and Naseeruddin Shah
Written and Directed by:Anusha Rizvi