Aakrosh

Is this the best hindi movie ever made ? I dont know !!
Is this the best among the ones I have seen ? Probably yes.
Is this the most powerful and moving movie I have seen ? Undoubtedly.

When two great thinkers like Vijay Tendulkar and Govind Nihalani come together as script writer and director respectively with two greatest actors like Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri, what comes out is "Aakrosh (Cry of the Wounded)".

A movie made in 1980 but none lesser contemporary than 2008-India, it is one that even fills the viewer with Aakrosh !! The movie is based on the corrupt, blatant, dishonest and cruel system comprising all the centers of power in the society which ruthlessly crushes the underpriveleged.

Bhiku Lahanya(Om Puri) is a rural adivasi(tribal) man whose wife(Smita Patil) has been raped and murdered by a group of men comprising a doctor, politician, contractor and his aide. Bhiku has been charged with the same murder. Bhaskar Kulkarni (Naseeruddin Shah) is a young lawyer who is handling the case for Bhiku, who right from the begining is un-cooperative with the lawyer. He doesnt utter a single word throughout the case and rather carries an angry and deeply frustrated face. While trying to find any clues to the muder, Bhaskar sees the editor of a local newspaper being beaten up by thugs which he doubts is related to the same case, later one of the thugs also attacks him. Public prosecutor Dushane (Amrish Puri) is a senior lawyer with big repute and spends his time in the company of big and powerful, he is shown to be a person who denies to see the truth unless it can be proved in the framework of the judicial system, though knowing it that there exists the truth outside this boundary.

Om Puri's acting was just breath-taking, during the whole 2+ hour long movie he spoke only 2 sentences, but his face spoke louder than what ears are capable of listening. Naseeruddin Shah is undoubtedly my most favorite actor and in this movie he proved it again that he is the best, undoubtedly this is the best performance I have seen from him. The direction from Govind Nihalani was too good, he keeps the viewer glued and challenges every now and then with his shocking surprises and the heartbeat never stays normal.

The movie is a satire on the judicial system which takes pride in its eyes being wrapped by the black strip but fails to recognize that closing the eyes is not enough in a system where power is concentrated in the hands of those who are supposed to be protectors but turn into the perpetrators.

Its amusing that this movie was made close to 3 decades back, halfway since democracy foot hold in this country, but the problem of a corrupt and ruthlessly cruel system duly neglected (in turn protected) by a blind judiciary still persists. The armed Naxalite movement which has taken the form of violent Maoist rebels across this country is just an example of that Aakrosh, the anger that has to erupt one day. A ruthless police in the hands of the executive body run by no less than a band of corrupt men, have been let loose leading to snatching of even basic human dignity among the underprivileged, be it the farmers loosing their land for the setting up of Car Factory, or a Special Economic Zone or the tribals loosing their villages and land for the building of Dams.

Watch the movie at your own risk, the Aakrosh(anger) of this movie is very contagious !!

(Read the rest here...)

Mirch Masala

Rated among the best ever made movies from India and having won many national and intenational accolades, "Mirch Masala" is one of those movies which made Smita Patil an unforgettable name in the Indian Cine history. The movie is based during the times of colonial India where a remote small village is haunted repeatedly by a Subedar (govt tax collector) whose visit along with his gunmen to the village is always dotted with fear. But this particular visit sends the whole village into turmoil when the Subedar (Naseeruddin Shah) puts his lustful eyes on Sonbai (Smita Patil) a young woman from the village whose husband has gone to the city for work. Having escaped from the Subedar, Sonbai hides in the village spice factory which is guarded by the old gatekeeper Abu Mian (Om Puri). The men in the village, led by the Mukhiya (village head) readily agree to handover Sonbai to the Subedar who otherwise threatens to smash the village if he doesn't get her. Abu Mian locks the door of the factory against the collective approval of the hapless woman's rape.

A movie which casts three such amazing actors certainly is an acting feast but apart from that I think this movie though made more than 2 decades back is all the more contemporary today. Smita Patil was probably the most feminist actress in the Indian Cinema and Mirch Masala was one among the few more pieces of work based on serious issues she created before her untimely death.

(Read the rest here...)