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Peepli Live - Notepad
Peepli Live
Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghuvir Yadav, Farukh Jaffer, Shalini Vatsa
Dir:
Anusha Rizvi
,
Mahmood Farooqui
quick review:
Peepli Live is pitch black humor - beginning, middle, and end. This Aamir Khan production obviously laughs at everything in the system. Peepli Live slyly laughs at you and me, the audience who finds such a dark world funny. 'Farmer suicides' is not the only issue that Anshu Rizvi, the writer is referring to. Peepli Live points a finger at things far beyond and the irreparable(?) fault deep down in the crux.
Audio review (subscribe):
This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.
Plot Summary
Natha and Budhiya's land is being auctioned because they cannot pay their loan installments. Cornered from everywhere, one convinces the other that the last resort is to commit suicide so that the family receives a Government sanction. As it so happens, an alert journalist notices this, only to alert the inert media industry to make BREAKING NEWS out of it.
What Worked
- The manner in which some of the close-ups were revealed - the stop sign.
- The politician who is being referred to as Pappu who can't dance his dance, the right way or wrong.
- Natha and Budhiya's mom. Both character and actor - class act!
- I'm sure there is more, but one will have to watch it again to make better notes ;)
What did not
Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here
- The toilet humor
Peepli Live - Movie Details
- Official Sites: Website
- Banner: UTV Motion Pictures
![[Has twitter account]](/site_media/images/icons/twitter_small.png)
, Aamir Khan Productions Pvt Ltd - Producer: Aamir Khan, Kiran Rao, Ronnie Screwwala
- Director: Anusha Rizvi, Mahmood Farooqui
- Lead Cast: Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghuvir Yadav, Farukh Jaffer, Shalini Vatsa
- Supporting Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Vishal O Sharma, Malaika Shenoy, Sitaram Panchal, Jugal Kishore, Naseeruddin Shah, Parul, Golu, Deven
- Story: Anusha Rizvi
- Screenplay: Anusha Rizvi
- Cinematography: Shankar Raman
- Editor: Hemanti Sarkar
- Action Choreography: Javed Eijaz
- Music Director: Indian Ocean, Bhadwai Musicians, Brij Mandal, Nageen Tanvir, Ram Sampat
- Lyrics: Sanjeev Sharma, Swananda Kirkire, Brij Mandal, Bhadwai Musicians, Noon Meem Rashed, Gangaram Sakhet
- Running time: 100 minutes
- Reviewer: meetu
- Categories: Hindi Movies
- Genres: Dark Comedy, Noir, Politics, Satire, Social
Peepli Live - Trailer
Peepli Live - All reviews summary
External Reviews
52 reviewers have given Peepli Live an average rating of 4.8/5.0. 47 yays, 0 nays, 5 so-so. See all external reviews »
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Comments (36)
'we serve masala because that is what the audience demands' days are numbered. **fingers crossed**
Way to go, dear. My sympathies for your fingers.
@lost in confusion he he he thanks!
A terribly pretentious film, made by an urban group and meant for an urban audience, that is all. There is nothing honest, there is nothing in the script, that we as middle class urbanites do not know in our "images" of what it means to be in rural India. The film is unable to get in to the life world of Rural India and the people who live there.
It is meant to raise laughs, as that is the only way that the urban audience can relate to this film. A far more honest effort was Tingya, as it came from someone who was a farmer and understood what it means to live such a life.
And it is terribly boring to boot, with the film dragging on after the first 30 minutes. So called twists and political machinations, the same old villains - politicians and media.
Who are the real villains?
The urban middle class for whom this is multiplex entertainment which is different and who would like to feel socially and morally conscientious at least for a brief moment, while gulping down their flavoured popcorn and their fizzy drinks.
@cinefreak I liked it while it lasted. But I too have this question, "what will people in the interiors make of it?" will they be able to laugh at their situation, for a brief moment too?
As far us being the villains, i agree, we are. But I still wouldn't blame the film for it. Almost every film/story is made at the expense of someone or something. Someone - the stereotype he fits in, something - the stuff we associate with them - is being exposed for our viewing pleasure.
By the way, I'm really curious. Can you name a few Hindi films from the last 3-4 years that you've liked? It is a serious question, please don't take it, like it could be taken, as sarcasm.
It is a satire & I think it shold be taken that way...no its not going 2 change anything, a mere film doesn't change anything...it'll take a complete overhaul of our society & system...but that shouldn't be a reason for blaming this film...
I don't expect to get in to the life world of Rural India through a movie.
It's enough if it can put a question mark on our perception.
Hope curiosity won't kill the cat.
BTW, after being more open to Hollywood & other foreign flicks in the past few years, I feel that I'm not enjoying Bollywood flicks as much as I would've had I not gotten used to the tight-scripted, fast-paced, song-less foreign films (of course, there are exceptions). And to such an extent that I hardly visit cinemas now, unlike monthly (or even more) visits some 2-3 years back.
And I don't think Bollywood is gonna change much even in a decade. As I said, it's a long way to go, & I, for one, won't keep my fingers crossed.
As for this movie, the trailer itself gave me that (pretentious) feeling cinefreak has mentioned here. So I've decided to rather wait for its DVD release (then again, it's something I've been doing for almost all Bollywood movies lately).
I would agree with what lost in confusion and cinefreak have to say here, though I wouldn't be as extreme as cinefreak was in his views. The film was thoroughly entertaining and did point fingers at quite a few entities. And coming from a debutant director and a largely unknown cast, its quite a feat. Though having said that, it still won't be as close to my heart as a Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron would always remain. I have my theories on why Peepli Live isn't a JBDY and will pen them down as soon as I get done with my weekend chore of reviews. Yet to watch Help, Grown Ups & Despicable Me.
Tell me following:
1) Is your rating out of 5 or 10. This is a very basic information which you should have put without me commenting here
2) Why do you say "preferably in theatre". Why not in DVD. Why not in pirated DVD. Who are you to suggest that. Is watching on theater goingt o change movie.
@lost in confusion @Bollyfan @cinefreak something is wrong about 'enjoying' a dark film at the expense of people whose plight we cannot even begin to understand. Obviously, with that point of view, this one looks pretentious, any movie will. In that context the other films that are not even about the issue will come across as even more frivolous. At this rate we'll reach the conclusion that only documentaries should be made, capture reality and that's it. The point is that we have to take a movie for what it is and not for what it isn't.
@bollyfan if we start comparing every movie to our all-time favorite, how will we ever like a film?
@ram singh the detailed rating is out of 5. And my bad, you are right, it should have been mentioned without you having to point it out.
Watching in theater certainly changes the experience for me.
Why can't we treat a movie as movie .... why it needs to be entertaining, educational, with moral values, close to reality, honest, and morally conscientious and that too all at the same time .... come on ... have a life ... a movie need to be a movie ... besides being entertaining ...if any of the adjective fits in ...should be treated as added bonus... not a mandatory criterion ...
By the way ... movie was excellent ... and so was the review .... made me think how "Peepli Live slyly laughs at you and me, the audience who finds such a dark world funny."
@Meetu, what I really did not like about this movie is that the two leads, have been shown as bumbling yokels!!! And who seem to only visit the local daaru shop and smoke ganja, and nothing else!
That is the real tragedy, reducing characters to caricatures who fit into the urban audience's image of "villagers."
And how is the film "dark" in any sense? You see the frames, the colour schemes, and the visual technique, they are definitely not meant to be "dark". Neither are the characters portrayed that way, they are meant to raise laughs. And the film does not become a trenchant satire either, because a satire would require far more than a bunch of "headlines" thrown together, it would require witty dialogues at a basic level which contain multiple connotations. Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron, was a fabulous satire, as the audience knew that it was not meant to be "realistic" or "authentic", but that it was taking a situation and commenting on it, by using humour which is cutting. This film tries too hard to be "authentic", but then it fails on that front too, as then the simple question is how does it become a comedy?
Yes, I loved Manorama Six Feet Under, Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi, Matroobhumi etc.
Mathroobhumi is a fine example of a film which is witty, melodramatic, and at the same time shocking, in terms of capturing a situation and exploring different angles to it. It is a shame that this particular film which deals with female infanticide vanished from our multiplexes in three days flat!!!
The way the film portrayed the caste angle, along with patriarchal power, and the hatred of women that it engenders was very well done. Hazaron Khwaishen Aisi, is a simple love story, but it highlights issues that are so topical today, eg the Naxalite movement and the role of the State.
Putting together headlines do not cinema make.
And for those who want to enjoy cinema, and also understand rural poverty and its implications, though of a Brahmin family and not farmers, please do watch Pather Panchali.
And at that time it is ironical to note, that people accused Ray of exploiting poverty to sell his film to the West!
We have indeed come a long way, only thing is now the talent is completely absent, and the audience the multiplex urbanite.
@cinefreak...firstly u r assuming that no one else has seen Pather Pachali here...secondly you are comparing entirely different genres...PP, mathribhumi, HKA were not satires...Peepli is...there is no point in comparing them...
accusation to Roy is a very old story, & in fact an ignorant one considering the fact that most of his films dealt with the middle class rather than the poor...
@meetu: whatever. Going by the trailer, this movie doesn't seem to be my cup of tea, but being a movie buff, I'd still give it a chance on DVD. A pleasant surprise is always more than welcome, doesn't matter if it comes at the cost of proving me wrong.
@Ram Singh: What are you? A redneck? (I'd have further asked: Or a 1 year old? But that would have been like insulting a child's innocence.) Chillax, dude. meetu is merely suggesting; take it or leave it. Nobody is gagging & forcing you here. And yeah, sometimes the movie you get to watch in a theatre varies from what you get to see on a pirated DVD. Not just in terms of quality, but even in terms of quantity, i.e. length of the movie.
@Lost in Mental confusion, @Cinefreak of nature: I completely agree with Meetu. Meetu gave an excellent review after a loooong time. You guys should not be watching movies. Simply watch your Discovery programs and documentaries rather than spoiling the fun of an excellent movie. Yes, I agree that urban audiences can not relate to the problems faced by the rural India. But please tell me if this movie was made more realistically as you desire, how many eyeballs would it have got? Maybe 10% of what it is getting right now if lucky. Making a dark humor and a satire of the real conditions of the farmer in rural India, this movie will probably get a larger audience than any rural documentary created in the whole country. At the same time, some part of the sudience will see beneath the humor of it all and will be touched by the plight of the poor farmers. This movie is a very daring and risky financial proposition with no stars, no known director, no expensive locations or sets with a rural backdrop. Inspite of all that, it is still an enjoyable and engaging movie. I m just amazed and wowed by Aamir Khan who had the far sight of producing such a risky movie. No other actor/producer in his right mind would have even thought of producing this movie.
Lastly, I didn't want to criticize anybody here but the tone and the way the mental confusion is insulting people on the forum (Ram S), I request Meetu to just block this bitter person who has no taste. Thanks Meetu
Meetu : Its not me alone but a huge number of the population thats comparing Peepli with JBDY. And the comparisons are inevitable since the two belong to the same genre and the latter is an evergreen classic. And nowhere did I say that I didn't like Peepli. I did...but it doesn't connect the way JBDY did...and would do even today.
Secondly, enjoying the film doesn't mean that you were having fun at the plight of someone who's suffering. The film doesn't really poke fun at the suffering farmers at all. Its the media, bureaucrats & politicians who are the butt of jokes here. Moreover, tragedy in extreme becomes comedy and vice-versa. And any dark comedy will have someone or the other suffering. Doesn't mean one shouldn't enjoy it.
Vishal : I would like to quote A.O.Scott (a noted critic) in response to what you say. "Any movie worth arguing is worth a watch. And any movie worth watching is worth arguing about." Entertaining, educational blah blah are all points of individual perception usually. For example, 3 Idiots was entertaining for me, thoughtprovoking for some, both for some more and none for the rest who saw it. You want a film to be entertaining before anything else, others may have different views. Why question the very basic expectations one has from a film?
Cinefreak : I'm not with STUPID! :P
I really like this review of the movie. You provide all the things one might want to know (especially in the final section), you don't give away too much of the plot, and you really made me want to see the movie (more than I already wanted to.)
@Vishal Thanks! It really is 'to each his own' There's just no one, universal parameter to judge a film.
* * *
@cinefreak Budhiya is a calculative guy in his own sphere of life. As soon as he gets the unexpected attention, he doesn't have a clue on how to handle it. Natha on the other hand is the observer, he sees what's happening around him and is driven to make a decision for himself.
I don't think it is fair to reduce 'urban audiences' to caricatures to fit into an individual's image. I'm an urbanite, but I regularly go to remote villages, because like so many of us, I have relatives there. And neither Budhiya nor Natha or even Dhaniya seem exaggerated to me. If at all, amma was a bit exaggerated but we had a neighbor like that in our 'native place' - Endearing despite being loud and abusive because her abuses weren't directed towards me.
To me the film was very dark, because of the way a real serious issue was being laughed at. The very premise is dark - someone committing suicide because the family will receive a compensation after his death.
Will certainly add Mathroobhumi to my 'must watch' list, loved your description of it. And yeah, Hazaron Khwaishey Aisi is awesome too!
Re: Pather Panchali - See if they did it the Ray-way, it would be plagiarizing. This is Anshu Rizvi's view of society around her. To like it or not, is completely our decision, but to ask her to make our view of the world, is asking for the impossible.
'Talent is completely absent' - this sentence hurts. Navdeep Singh? Kay Kay Menon? Konkona Sen Sharma? Shanker Raman? Chitrangadha? Anurag Kashyap? Shimit Amin? Saif Ali Khan? Jaideep Sahni? only to name a few - None of their work appeal to you?
* * *
@lost in confusion thanks for speaking on my behalf but let's tone it down a bit. Calling names doesn't really make for healthy discussion.
* * *
@GOne Thanks. But aren't you guilty of the same accusation? So, let's just all settle down here and focus on what we all love - films!
@Bollyfan I think comparing is a huge issue. If we compare films we will never be able to like/dislike a film for what it is. Already film-watching is dependent on so many things - background, kind of films you are exposed to, you mood that day, your health that day, the people you are watching it with both known and unknown, etc, etc ,etc. I just like to avoid adding comparison to the list.
Well when we laugh at amma yelling at Dhaniya - we are laughing at Dhaniya who is in a sorry state - she is right in being angry at everyone around her, she is a strong woman and yet we laugh at her - we are laughing at amma - the poor bed-wridden oldie. Both musn't have seen any joy in life, even according to their definition of joy, let alone ours. And this is true of most of the situations involving the villagers. Like I was telling @cinefreak, the very premise of the film - farmers contemplating suicide, so that they get a compensation is soaked in dark humor which almost always involves laughing at someone else's plight. And I feel bad when I'm laughing; though I am laughing and thus enjoying it, right.
* * *
@Sakhi Thank you!!
@GOne: You too need to chillax.
And going by your standards, if I'm to be blocked for my previous comment, I wonder what treatment you'd ask for yourself.
I appreciate your opinions w.r.t. the movie, though. But then again, I'm a person with no taste.
Meetu : I feel that a comparison between similar films, if done within well-defined parameters, is not wrong. And going by your logic of the other factors, the very concept of comparison shouldn't exist.
Anyways...here's my post on the comparison, if I may...
http://www.cinemaaonline.com/cinemaagazine/why-peepli-live-is-no-jaane-bh-do-yaaron
@meetu: To be honest, I didn't find that specific comment quite out of line. But still, I'll take care of it in future. I'll see to it that my comments are limited only to the movies, unless something else is largely called for.
And my response to GOne would have been one sentence less had I seen your (similar) response to him just a few minutes before mine. My bad, I didn't refresh the page (as usual, I was multi-tasking, so I came back to this page quite long after opening it) before entering my comment.
@Bollyfan yeah, i'm told my take on 'comparisons' is not the popular one. Oh well, such is life...
@lost in confusion in general, i avoid reacting to personal attacks, because it is giving something more attention than it deserves.
Let's bygone be bygones and talk about films now!
@meetu: sounds good; will try to adapt & adopt that attitude.
@lost in confusion much appreciated!
Or are appreciating this because of the Aamir banner?
I just read a counter view here
http://sledgingpoint.blogspot.com/2010/08/peepli-live-classic-case-of.html
@Ashish unlikely. I think I am past being impressed or averse to banners. I liked it for what it was.
@Ashish...in fact the link u hav given seems to be purposeully critcal, as it is also fashinable 2 be different...
Seems like a much of a televised debate of The buck stops here going on :) ... thanks for the review and as always very insightful observations made. Especially like the fact that we as audiences who enjoy watching the apathy and helplessness of others less fortunate – don’t know whether that was intentional on part of the director. Considering all the emotional atyachar being fed by news channels - I think we are sort of becoming immune to serious issues and getting more used to sensationalised topics. So while they are on air and in prime focus they will be a matter of discussion and headlines and the minute there is another child stuck down the tube well attention shifts there. This was so obvious with how the story was followed in the end, no one bothered to follow up whether they actually received money or not. I agree to some other comments made - why do we look at movies to be hard hitting, educating, inspiring etc. Movies are media for entertainment and all of the rest is to be the under current – if they are able to make viewer think I think it deserves a 5 star rating then. If you want to be able to make a difference in your attitude then go back and take a cue from education, that was meant to make you a better person. Although i wont disagree if they decided to make movies as part of the curriculum too :)
@Jitaditya :)
@Trupz Oh yeah...movies as a part of the curriculum...now that will be the day
@Meetu
You mentioned 'Saif Ali Khan' in the list of those you suggest as talented.. I really hope you didn't mean the utterly disgusting, no acting skills whatsoever son of Sharmila Tagore!?? Sorry if that hurts any of you people but that's a personal opinion so please don't start any rants
As per the movie Peepli - I liked the movie but I didn't enjoy it .. what's the difference you may wonder. I liked the idea of the movie and the subject but I lost the sense of entertainment about an hour into it because all I was seeing is the way the media would pick almost every little aspect and make it a headline right from a hammer to faeces. Ofcourse the media these days are like that but its is something we've seen over and over and over again. And to add to that the cinema decided to give an awfully long break about half-way (I think it was technical issue) and I was struggling to connect back to the story again.
I definitely do not think it is worthy of an Oscar entry but what good are Oscars if Slumdog can win them.
By the way are we all in agreement that had it not been for Aamir Khan's name in the production banner, this movie would have faded away unnoticed? Now please don't say you would have been curious regardless - that would be cheating. @Meetu this question in particular isn't targeted at you because I know you tend to review most movies. And like someone said earlier on, you have done quite a decent review in a long time. (sorry!)
Nirmal
@Nirmal That's the one! Yep, the one in Omkara. I agree he hasn't been best at picking films in the last few years.
>>"but what good are Oscars if Slumdog can win them."
LOL! loved the line!!
>>"you have done quite a decent review in a long time. (sorry!)"
Did you mean "have not"
Hi Meetu
Saif doesn't feature in my list of 'talented' but each to his own eh!
I actually did mean that you done a very good review (referring to Peepli here) after quite some time. With no disrespect, I did think some of your reviews recently have been confusing.
Nirmal
@Nirmal oh thank you! If you could be specific about how the other reviews have been confusing, I could take the feedback into consideration next time onwards.
Peeli live is a story of indian soul. It touchs our heart with humour. In it we laugh at our own helpless people. Its a first filim goes for Oscar for narrating our own story like majid majidi did for Iran.
Saw it yesterday on the newly released DVD. While I felt that it was one of the better, and if I may use the word 'honest', films on the subject(s), I found the 'making of' film to be equally involving. The pains that the directors (and the other people involved) have taken are obvious in that in the entire film not a single actor rings a false note. This is quite rare in our films. Whether or not it fares well at the Oscars, it will remain one of the finest films on rural India in recent times.
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