Its 'that' time of the year...

So Rang De Basanti (RDB) is India’s entry for Academy awards this year! Now all news channels will feature half an hour inane shows on the movie, people (you have seen them but will not be able to place them) will come and give their unwanted opinion on “what are our chances of winning the Oscars?”
Amir Khan will be asked whether he intends to use his past experience of Lagaan this time (of course he will, you fool!). And of course Munnabhai team will grudgingly wish the RDB team for the best of luck.
And one question that will be raised is this: Is RDB the best choice? And being the lukhkha that I am today, I will take that bait and record my response. So here goes!
Out of the 9 movies submitted to the panel, I think the real contenders were only 3: RDB, Lage Raho Munnabhai and Omkara. The fact that KANK was even sent for this consideration shows the kind of optimistic chap that Karan ‘family’ Johar is. I mean its one thing to love the movies you make, no matter how sub-standard they are but it’s quite a different thing to start believing that it’s a world-class product. But, I digress. Let me take the three movies that we are all proud of:
Omkara- a great motion picture with powerhouse performances from Saif, Konkana Sensharma and Ajay Devgan. Very few movies can really capture the mood of a region as this one has done. But what would it offer to an Academy award jury member? Not much really. They have probably seen the adaptations of Othello numerous times.
RDB- by far the most honest movie to be created in the recent times. It is not the perfect movie (watch Sehar, if you want a perfect movie). It is flawed, in the doctrine it proposes and that’s where it touches one’s heart. Find me a man who doesn’t feel something stirring within after watching RDB. This movie has its heart in the right place.
Oscars, I guess, are different ballgame. The Academy is known for its political correctness and in the days of mindless violence everywhere, a movie where protagonists have to resort to violence to get heard, doesn’t really fit the bill. And, thus I come to my would-have-been choice:
Lage Raho Munnabhai- This movie would have made the cut where RDB probably might fail. It pays tribute to the great Mahatma who made non-violence fashionable in today’s world. It’s a very smart movie with all the ingredient just right. If there ever was a politically correct movie, this is it. So I think this would have been our best bet for Oscars.
I love RDB far more than I could ever like Lage Raho, for the simple reason: RDB speaks to you personally. Even if it doesn’t win the coveted statute, it has already won something far more precious: our hearts.

Satyakam, the movie

Ganapati Puja means different things to different people. For an average commuting Mumbai-ite it only means longer commuting hours on account of the Pandals (thoughtfully put right in the middle of the road) and processions (with complete and utter disregard for other life forms on the road) for the lord. All this gives a good excuse to leave a little early in the evening (to avoid the traffic). Today being the last day of the festival, we left quite early, at about 5 pm and before the longer needle on a watch could complete half the circle, I was home.
A full evening lay in front of me. Generally I would have jumped at this opportunity to go out to some movie or even go to that Gym that I had promised myself today morning but the sound of the crackers from outside reminded me of the trouble I would land in if I were to go out. And I picked up that one movie I had been planning to watch for some time now. Satyakam is a movie I have already seen but I have always felt special for that movie hence the repeat viewing.
Satyakam is an ode to what we would today call Gandhian values. It’s a heartbreaking story of a man who is willing to fight for his ideology. A man who is so real yet so unreal for his conviction and his beliefs. A man who is ready to pay any price to stand by what he believes in. And so he declares “A truthful man not only suffers from it (truth) but he is also prepared to give such sorrow (caused by truth) to his loved ones”.
Satya, played by a surprisingly vulnerable Dharmendra, has high hopes from the dawn of an independent India. Truth is his only dharma. He is so driven by his truth and compassion that he takes little time in deciding to marry Ranjana (a delicate Sharmila Tagore) who is wronged by the society. He dreams of an India which will not be plagued by the problems of unemployment, corruption and poverty. He is looking forward to a free country where free people work towards the upliftment of the country. And is he wrong? Isn’t that what everybody was fighting for? But then why is everyone talking about “a little compromise”. How is it that everybody has to make some minor “adjustments”? Bewildered yet resolute, Satya keeps fighting his battle. He does not even know who he is fighting with; the unseen evil, the society, himself. And his battle ends only when he succumbs to an incurable disease, a disease undoubtedly caused by the evil around him. But he isn’t the one who is defeated.
Satyakam overwhelms me. Some moments stay with me long after I have watched the movie. The charming exchange between Satya and Ranjana as he gives her compliment when she prompts him is one such moment. Another one is Satya’s outburst at Naren’s (in the narrator’s small but powerful role, Sanjeev Kumar) place. That scene is a complete portfolio of Dharmendra’s acting capabilities. And a very powerful climax has always been the strength of all Hrishikesh Mukharjee movies. This movie is no exception. Watch how Satya is ready give up all he stood for by signing a paper, for his family’s sake and watch how Ranjana stands by him.
Satyakam is heartbreakingly real. Though it was released about three decades back, yet it feels its happening today.
But why was I getting irritated with Satya’s obsession with truth and his values? Was I hoping for him to make that ‘little’ adjustment for the betterment of his family, his own self. Was I thinking “what’s the big deal” when Satya said he couldn’t spend his office hours on his personal visits? I guess, I was. And this indicates a lot about what kind of society we are today. About how ends have taken precedence over means. About how callous we have all become to what is going on around us. About how irritated we are if someone decides to stand by what he believes in, for he is “inflexible”.
Do I have hope?
As the movie nears its end, Satya on his deathbed signs the paper that would provide money to his family but Ranjana tears it off. He knew she would do that. His values would not die with him. They would live on.
And I cheered for them. And I felt happy…and light.
I do have hope!