In what is not breaking news anymore, election season is upon us. With the fervour of polling taking over the lives of 1.2 billion people in the next few weeks, what is also upon us is carefully constructed propaganda.
As someone who lives on films, I must make my disappointment apparent. There has been a steady decline in the quality of films that we have seen in the last five years. Don’t @ me. For whatever reason Ranveer Singh may have appealed to you as Alauddin Khilji, fact remains that it was a grossly irresponsible depiction passed off in the name of art.
In fact, the BJP government could have taken a leaf out of (the actual) Khilji’s revenue and market reforms, which led to the establishment of a well-maintained army and broke the chain of profiteering Hindu traders who lived off of overcharging cultivators and farmers in the name of taxes. Instead, they implemented the GST and demonetisation while successfully ruining the autonomy of the one pan-Indian film industry that we have: Hindi movies.
Seeing as this propaganda is about a reach a peak – with Vivek Oberoi and three other actors actually, willfully essaying the role of the first PM in our history who hasn’t held a single press conference during his tenure, here are 10 films you should see, before you strut to vote.
1) Yuva/Aaytha Ezhuthu
A Mani Ratnam masterpiece. Originally made in Tamil, the story traces student politics through the eyes of three men, who belong to three different stratas of society. It remains an important commentary on the fragility of youth, the freedom of a university space and the power of will.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TnDnlHIC5o&t=19s
2) Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi
Shedding light on a watershed moment in the struggle for a united student identity, Sudhir Mishra carefully draws a picture of the Naxal movement and the attached incident of the Emergency. If you’re worried about finding problematic rhetoric attractive, this is the watch you need before April 11.
3) Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani
You can un-scrunch your forehead. This one is slept on. I, for one, miss when you could make movies that had democratic elements and not hyper-nationalist ones (yes, I’m talking about Uri, Parmanu, and the like).
A fully commercial take on the TV news revolution India saw post the 1990s, who better than Shahrukh Khan and Juhi Chawla to tell us how truth can get lost in the TRP race? We tend to forget that the film had a powerful narrative: two rival news reporters who try to save a man from a wrongly imposed death sentence, when suddenly a hidden case of rape changes everything. Do you see how subtle the statement is?
4) Shanghai
Not many have heard of this, fewer have actually seen it. This is a gritty watch, for the reality as well as the dirt. The premise is what every Indian is familiar with, a small town being developed as an industrial and technological novelty. Shanghai follows this development through the eyes of citizens, students and the bureaucracy. All ingredients for a well-brewed reality check.
5) Kai Po Che
The only instance where the film is better than the book. An essential lesson in understanding where present-day politics in India comes from. The story is a fictionalisation of what happened in Gujarat in 2002, but a sensitive and informed one. Most importantly, it brings to light the uncomfortable reality that even strong bond of friendship may not survive divisive ideology.
6) Gulaal
What Anurag Kashyap should have actually been noticed for. For a country that is obsessed with legitimacy in politics while being intensely hypocritical, it’s a wonder this film isn’t more known. Tracing student politics simultaneously with a separatist movement, this is an underrated gem, and crucial if you are to understand where students stand in the political ladder.
7) Ardh Satya
The pivotal character in this movie is the system. And the futile human struggle against it just the backdrop. A man within the institution grapples with the wrongs of the walls that surround him, all the while wondering if being a policeman is even worth it.
Besides being one of the finest films ever made in Hindi, it also remains one of the few to have actually addressed the existential crisis that characterises the young Indian’s experience of capitalist Brahminical patriarchy and oppression. If you do see this, I suggest you be prepared for your life to change.
8) Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro
The thing is, Indians have a great capacity for humour. For some reason, it’s always downplayed. The very serious issue of corruption is turned upside down in this comedy. Multiple layers of satire culminate in a stage adaptation of Draupadi’s cheer-haran episode from the epic Mahabharata. As I stare pensively into the distance, I wonder if this would even be permitted for release by the CBFC today.
9) Dil Dosti Etc.
One of the most liberating things about college is the heterogeneity on campuses. Students come from different backgrounds, bundle up into one classroom and sparks fly. This movie explores the ambiguity of being in college, that leads to as much randomness as it does to life-changing decisions.
10) Rang De Basanti
The list would be incomplete without this movie. Despite being controversial, it remains an important lesson on what a commitment to being anti-establishment implies. It tears away at the superficial levels of dissent, offering a raw and striking look into being a student in the nation’s capital.
It is of course, not without flaws. However, even though many critics termed the movie unnecessarily violent, recent examples suggest that parts of the movie are closer to reality than we would like to think.
