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reena1988
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Article 15 (2019)
Less is more! Or less...
Article 15 - less is more!
There were a couple of surprising things about Article 15 that I really appreciated. One it showed the main protagonist (Ayan, played by Ayushmann Khurana) as someone who is not necessarily interested in being a hero but is drawn into a fight because of the outrageousness of the criminal injustice he encounters in small town India. If you know Bollywood movies you know that is unusual - typically the protagonist in such a tale is shown giving lectures about how righteous he is from the get go. Tell, don't show -- is the way it goes and the movie is typically unwatchable. Not here.
The second is that the film takes on the subject of caste head on. What a completely stale subject to stake a whole Bollywood production on! And that too with someone like Ayushmann who's been riding a winning streak of hits. Why risk all that? But, for reasons also alluded to in the film, I am glad Anubhav Sinha took this on and made the film. I did not know this going in, but I believe the film is inspired by the 2014 heinous gang rape and murder case in Badaun. If so there is never a mention of it.
Article 15 is a dark and chilling tale of the sub-human treatment of those deemed to be "low caste" in small town or rural India. Not only are they treated worse than animals, they reside at the very bottom of the economic ladder and justice has no meaning in their lives. A simple request for an increase in wages can have dire consequences; two minor girls brutally raped and murdered for just such a request and are left hanging from a tree as a "lesson" to the rest of their tribe. The criminals powerful, upper-caste men expect to go scot free and do. That is until Ayan the police inspector - Anubhav Sinha's hero - shows up. The rest is a tale of justice sought and found.
While the movie is well-played with a satisfying end (who doesn't love a good tale of justice delivered?), it missed being a powerful film that stays with you for days. In your face symbolism such as the playing of "vande mataram..." when Ayan realizes he is in the fight for good was unnecessary and annoying. Secondly, Ayan's journey while set up perfectly never quite raise the stakes sufficiently. He is shown to be an upper class (and upper caste), urban kid who is blind to the reality and rigors of caste. He is not only ignorant of the intricacies of it, he can hardly believe how rampant and deeply entrenched it is in the village he is in charge of. "Wild wild west..." - an allusion that would be lost to practically all of small town India - is how he describes it. This is how most of India lives but this is news to him. It all ends in a "happy" end with Ayan carrying the missing third girl through the swamps. This perhaps scored drama points with the audience but left me asking for more. Perhaps also because in the very next scene Ayan is shown standing in his jeans that are clean and dry!
A more bitter tale would have made the film more compelling. Such battles are won, if ever, in much more involved fights where the hero rarely emerges unscathed and heroic.
But then perhaps it would not have delivered the hit Anubhav Sinha wanted which, is likely necessary to get the word out: Caste is still a thing, you know!
Qissa: The Tale of a Lonely Ghost (2013)
Dark, beautiful and heart-breaking...
I had the pleasure of watching "Qissa" (Punjabi, English sub-titles) at its North America premier at the Sikh Lens Film Festival in Orange County, CA on Nov 22nd, 2014. This is a complex, heart-wrenching tale powerfully etched by the dexterous hands of Anup Singh. The movie starts off with the backdrop of the 1947 Partition of India and the theme of loss runs right through it. The film then goes on to mercilessly expose the ridiculous limits a patriarchy must go to, to preserve itself. Umber (played by the incomparable Irrfan Khan) is a Sikh man uprooted with his wife and three young daughters from his village (in Pakistan) and forced to flee to the new India as a result of Partition. Soon after he is somewhat reestablished in India, his wife delivers a 4th daughter; at this point Umber declares he's had a son and brushing aside all objections proceeds to raise the girl as a boy even up to the point of marrying her off as a man. The absolutism of the patriarchy, accompanied by the threat of violence runs as an undercurrent throughout the film — the women mostly watch on helplessly until Umber's daughter-in-law unexpectedly decides to question the status quo. But it is too late and the story unfolds inexorably into a disaster for all. Thematically Partition as the starting point for the film is a powerful and relevant one. The patriarchy that invented the concept of "honor" off the backs of its helpless women then greatly exploited it during Partition - women, girls on all sides and as a matter of priority, were raped, mutilated, and devastated in ways unimaginable. The same patriarchy so bound to its feudal ties, the land it owned and a limited imagination, could only consider sons bearing its name. And this became so much of a part of the reality that not having a male heir became as much a matter of economic devastation as of social shame. As the director and screenplay writer, Anup Singh displays admirable restraint with limited dialog, nuanced performances elicited from his cast, and the straightforward telling of an explosive story. A metaphorical twist in the story leaves you stunned yet believing. I would be remiss if I did not call out the three women actors - Tilottama Shome, Tisca Chopra and Rasika Dugal - who were perfect in their respective roles; each held her own vis-a-vis Irrfan Khan. All in all a treat and I am rooting for this one as India's entry for Best Foreign Film at the 2014 Oscars!