The movie that pricked India's
conscience By Siddharth
Srivastava
NEW DELHI - It is not often
that a movie catches popular imagination the way
the Bollywood film Rang De Basanti has. On
the face of it RDB could pass for another
tightly scripted, witty, well-directed film about
youth that was aimed at a young population. To add
to its appeal, RDB stars top actor Aamir
Khan.
However, well into the second half
of the movie there is a twist that sets it apart
and has also made it a runaway hit. Unlike more
conventional movies, RDB rapidly moves from
harsh reality to probe the insanity that has
pricked the conscience of many in
India.
To add to the effect, RDB is juxtaposed
with images of India's freedom struggle and
freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, which have been
cleverly woven into the narrative.
One of
the protagonists, who is an ace fighter pilot,
dies in a crash. Unlike the cynicism of Aamir and
his group of college friends (which includes the
pilot's girlfriend, played by the talented actress
Soha Ali Khan), who think the country is going to
the dogs because of corruption, the pilot has all
along been the sole sane voice. He believes in his
job of making the country safe for his countrymen
and friends to live in peacefully. While such
idealism is dismissed in banter, deep down the
friends respect the pilot.
Obviously,
Aamir's group is shattered by their friend's
death. Moreover, to their shock, they watch in
pain and anger as the country's defense minister
goes on television to say that plane crashed
because of the incompetence of the pilot. The
minister is also shown to be taking bribes for
inferior military material, an aspect that had
gotten RDB into trouble with the censors
and with the Indian Air Force (IAF) before the
release. Fortunately, no changes were made.
Everybody knows that the Russian-made MiGs
that form the backbone of the IAF have a very bad
safety record due to inadequate training
facilities and the absence of a well-oiled supply
of spare parts. Commissions and allegations of
corruption in defense deals are also very common.
In the movie, Aamir and his friends take to the
streets with other families whose sons have died
in MiG crashes and are beaten mercilessly by the
police, another harsh reality in India. Frustrated
and angry, they hatch a plan and shoot the defense
minister, and are in turn killed by commandos.
Director Rakeysh Mehra has said that he
debated the finale for quite some time, as it
could easily be dismissed as being very rash. Or,
on the other hand, it could be seen as sending a
message to people that they should act in the face
of injustice, and he needed something very
dramatic to convey that message. It seems it is
the latter meaning that has been absorbed by
audiences and has prodded many to take action of
their own.
Social activism is the new
buzzword. Urban youth, for so long comfortable in
airing its angst on the Internet from the comforts
of their home computers, are increasingly taking
to the streets. A majority of India's population
is under the age of 35 and have been witness to
the first flush of economic liberalization, jobs
and rising incomes. They obviously want to have a
say in the future of the country.
Young
engineer Satyendra Dubey (killed for taking on the
mafia that controls the national highway
development project) and 27-year-old S Manjunath
(murdered for fighting against fuel adulteration)
have become their role models. Sociologists have
dubbed the flurry of activism as the "RDB
phenomenon". Sanjay Kaul of People's Action, a
Delhi non-governmental organization, has said:
"Institutions have collapsed, and people are
coming together to force the government to act."
It may be recalled that India ranks as one
of the most corrupt nations of the world. "We have
stopped being spectators," said Anjali Mullatti,
27, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of
Management, Lucknow, and a friend of Manjunath.
One immediate consequence of RDB
has been in the Jessica Lal case that has resulted
in calls for broader judicial reform. The country
was shocked by the court's inability to convict
the man accused of shooting model Lal dead in
front of hundreds of people at a popular pub in
Delhi. The prime suspect happened to be the son of
a powerful politician who was alleged to have
bribed the police who led the investigation and
threatened the witnesses, who are said to have
been standing next to the model when she was shot.
The Jessica Lal case exposed the
underbelly of the Indian judicial system, which is
heavily dependent on statements by witnesses
rather than circumstantial evidence. Hundreds and
thousands of criminals with money and muscle
manage to influence witnesses and escape
punishment.
Fired up by the message of
RDB, thousands of young people in Delhi and
elsewhere have taken to the streets, prominently
displaying placards of the movie. A higher court
took suo motto cognizance of the protests
and ordered a reinvestigation. With the media
highlighting the issue, the police, under severe
pressure, have begun probing the case anew, even
as evidence mounts of tampering, bribes and
threats at every level. The Jessica Lal case could
change the criminal-justice system in India
forever, with the government preparing a series of
amendments that will be presented to parliament.
"The young have definitely taken to the
street," Neelam Katara, mother of Nitish Katara,
allegedly killed by another politician's son for
having an affair with his sister, said in an
interview to news daily DNA. "We have not seen
this kind of activism. The Jessica Lal case was
the last straw."
The effects can be seen
elsewhere. Clearly rattled by the people's anger
against the judiciary, a court in Rajasthantook
delivered a judgment within three weeks of the
rape of a German scholar by the son of a senior
police officer. The police, under heavy scrutiny
and pressure, delivered the evidence, while the
witnesses stood their ground. In the past, in a
similar instance of the rape and murder of a young
girl named Priyadarshini Mattoo in Delhi allegedly
by the son of another police official, the main
accused was exonerated, despite plenty of
circumstantial evidence pointing otherwise.
In Mumbai, a quick sentence has been
awarded to a police constable accused of raping a
college girl at Marine Drive in the heart of the
city. The police in Mumbai have also moved very
quickly on the allegations of rape against the son
of a prominent owner of textile mills. The
judiciary has also hauled up civic agencies in
Delhi for allowing the construction of illegal
residential and commercial properties.
Caught in the spurt of judicial activity
has been prominent actor Salman Khan, who was
sentenced to five years in jail for hunting a
black buck, an endangered species. Salman has
somehow managed stay out on bail for now, though
the punishment handed to him is reserved for
hardened poachers. Perhaps a fine of a few million
dollars to be used for wildlife conservation would
have set him straight for life.
In the
meantime, the activism bug has bitten Aamir and
his co-actors in RDB. Aamir has been
speaking about the need for adequate
rehabilitation of farmers who will be displaced by
the raising of the height of the Narmada Dam in
central India. In a high-profile move, Aamir met
with Medha Patkar, leader of Narmada Bachao
Andolan (Save the Narmada), who was on a fast unto
death until the Supreme Court ordered that the
construction of the dam cannot go ahead until
those affected are taken care of. The government
has since appointed a high-level committee to
oversee the matter. Perhaps on cue, another
actress, Diya Mirza, has also spoken out on
Narmada.
Aamir has been quoted as saying:
"Acting is one very important part of my life. But
there are other aspects and roles too, my role as
an Indian, as a citizen of this country who is
alive to events happening around."
Indeed,
RDB has engendered a new spirit, at least
in urban life. Much more will be required to
change many of the the country's systemic faults,
but nobody doubts that the film has brought in a
fresh air of hope. The results are there to see.
Siddharth Srivastava is a New
Delhi-based journalist.
(Copyright
2006 Asia Times Online Ltd. All rights reserved.
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