Peepli Live (15)

Time Out says

Tue Sep 21 2010

Bollywood superstar-producer Aamir Khan’s latest addresses Indian farmers who commit suicide. Unable to cope with urbanisation and debt, at least 200,000 men have died in the last decade. The government’s response: compensation for the family. When Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri), a farmer from fictitious ‘Peepli’, realises he will lose his land over an unpaid loan, he hatches a plan to ease his family’s debt. He must die. With elections imminent and the press omnipresent, events get out of control.‘Slumdog Millionaire’ introduced audiences to the underbelly of India’s ‘maximum city’; ‘Peepli’ delves further into the ‘real’ India. Its realism, so rare in Bollywood, delivers a sobering message about the urban and rural divide and an indifferent administration. First-time female director Anusha Rizvi’s witty script adopts a Capraesque approach to this grim topic. A largely unknown confident cast, rousing folk music and Rizvi’s understated direction result in a fresh, credible comic gem.

Author: Anil Sinanan