Review: Peepli Live

Orginally for Yahoo

Cast: Raghubir Yadav, Omkar Das Manikpuri, Malaika Shenoy, Vishal O Sharma, Naseeruddin Shah, Shalini Vatsa, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sitaram Panchal,

Director: Anusha Rizvi

Producer: Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao

Music: Indian Ocean, Brij Mandal

Rating: ***/12

Only earlier this year we had a classic satire in Shyam Benegal’s Well Done Abba. And now we have Peepli Live. And both have references to the Below Poverty Line (BPL) certificate.  That’s however all that are common about these two movies. While Well Done Abba takes hold of one issue and forces open the Pandora ’s Box on corruption in government offices, Peepli Live delves into much complex matters.

Omkar Das Manikpuri

Peepli Live has a remarkable story but it ends with one line which endorses the director’s vision and brings out one of the most unnoticed and overlooked phenomenon in the country – the immigration of rural population to cities in search of greener pastures. As the film points 80 lakh farmers quit farming between 1991 and 2001. A rather alarming number considering the mainstay of the country’s economy is said to be agriculture based. The director Anusha Rizvi finds a plot for her movie in the cause of this emigration – the fact that these people can’t seem to maintain their family through farming.

Natha and Budhia

Peepli Live is a story about a farmer called Natha. He is on verge of losing his land because he has not been able to repay the loan taken from a bank. The loan was taken for treatment of his mother. As Natha (Omkar Das) and his brother Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) ponder how to save their ancestral land a local politician suggests that they could try suicide as government usually grants compensation to the deceased family. Natha decides to die and this is carried by a local newspaper. The story is picked up by the national TV media and hurled into prime time news. What ensues is a battle between news channels to get the first piece of news. Live coverage of the issue rocks the political stage.

Peepli Live cleverly and beautifully unearths the loopholes in government policies and also the media’s run for money. The screenplay is beautifully done to fit authentic details. What’s is remarkable that despite being a first time director Anusha Rizvi stays clear of any temptations towards adding regular masala flavours like an item number in the film. The director also deserves kudos for absolute detailing – right up to names on a carton of a TV set and bottles of packaged drinking water. Apart from that there is a great deal of work on dialogues and shot taking. Camera work is carefully thought out to give the right feel.

What makes Peepli Live an absolute delight are the performances. A completely fresh cast, which looks every bit the character play the movie out almost like it is a window to the rural India and not a piece of cinema.

Talking about drawbacks, the pace of the first half could have been increased to some extent. Also the ending – which is a akin to real life – leaves you wanting for justice to the grand built up.

The film however has no drawbacks which are gaping loud and damaging to the script. This one stands clean. Peepli Live is a class act and director Anusha Rizvi and producer Aamir Khan could take a bow for working this into reality.

PS: For once the functioning of media has been shown in the correct way, unlike other films. Anusha Rizvi being an ex-journo could be attributed as a reason to this.