Aiming for the Oscars

With his Peepli (Live) becoming the country’s official entry for the Oscars, Aamir Khan
has got a rare distinction of being a filmmaker whose four films have been entries
for the Academy Awards, writes M. L. Dhawan

NO discussion about wholesome and meaningful cinema is complete without a mention of Aamir Khan. As his latest release, Peepli(Live) makes it as India’s official entry for Oscars, this is third time lucky for Aamir Khan Productions as his previous films Lagaan (2001) and Taare Zameen Par (2007) were also selected to represent the country at the Academy Awards.

Lagaan, which saw Aamir Khan playing a farmer during the British rule, was shortlisted in a category of five but lost to Bosnian war film No Man’s Land. He is, perhaps, the only filmmaker in the history of cinema whose four films — Lagaan, Rang De Basanti, Taare Zameen Par and Peepli(Live) earned the distinction of being India’s official entries for the Academy Awards.

According to Supran Sing, secretary general of the Film Federation of India, Peepli (Live) has been selected out of 27 films as official entry for Oscars 2011. Peepli (Live) is a fictional locale but it can be a prototype of any part of rural India, where hand-to-mouth existence is a luxury and starvation is the order of the day, where frustration, despair, sadness are the prevalent emotions and happiness and prosperity fear to tread.

There are two ways to make a film on India’s perennial problem — the miserable conditions of the life of farmers — one which filmmakers like Mehboob Khan, Bimal Roy and Ashutosh Gowarikar, Shyam Benegal, etc showcased through their films like Mother India, Do Bigha Zameen, Swades, Akrosh, Welcome To Sajjanpur. These films were hard-hitting, searing indictment of everything that has been a part of the rotten system.

With Peepli (Live), Aamir, however, chose the satirical route to deliver home the message. Instead of putting the politicians and the unscrupulous bureaucrats — the prime culprits as per the common perception — in the dock, Aamir Khan has brought the dubious role of trigger-happy media into sharp focus. The result is one acerbic satire, which spared nobody. The story of Natha in Peepli (Live) is not unique as it is also the story of Radha in Mother India or Shambhu in Do Bigha Zameen. In fact, it is the story of any poor farmer from any corner of the country’s vast rural hinterland.

Peepli (Live) showcases the appalling poverty prevailing in illiterate India. This satirical take on farmers’ suicide may ruffle a few feathers in the world, who may castigate Aamir Khan for selling India’s poverty to the rest of the world — the way Slumdog Millionaire did — but it is a fact that it uses the powerful tool of humour and satire to bring out the seriousness of the issue. The movie has debunked the media, particularly the TV channels and how these cash in on a pitiable situation to raise their TRPs. Any piece of news is good enough for them to expose and explore.

With an interesting premise pivoting around impoverished protagonists, one would expect melodrama and over-sentimentalism but Peepli (Live) carves out an entirely different trajectory with loads of potshots at today’s insensitive and ruthless journalism.

Aamir Khan is a creative genius, he is an actor and a filmmaker who has always ploughed a lonely furrow and dared to be different and that is why he stands out in the crowd. His films strike a chord with the masses. We need more actors and filmmakers like him in the industry, who inspire others to do good work, believe in their dreams and not follow the herd.

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