The huge success of the 1996 Tamil blockbuster, Indiastarring Kamal Haasan and directed by Shankar, may be due to several reasons, such as Kamal Haasan’s excellent portrayal of a 70-year-old freedom fighter, AR Rahman’s excellent numbers and Shankar’s imaginative story, but the main reasons. it is a quick attraction for the ‘common people’, forced to shell out money to government officials on a daily basis.
Impact of gentleman, India and later several films directed by Shankar such as Mudhalvan and Anniyan speaking for the generation of Tamil people, forming the understanding of politics and corruption in society, often privileging vigilantes problem through systemic, long-drawn-out, additional reforms of the system. Like every movie, India written and created in the specific socio-political context of India. Five years before the release of the film, in 1991, the Indian government had decided to remove the economic lock by carrying out a series of structural reforms that loosened the influence of the state in the economy by using liberalization to initiate economic growth and provide employment.
In 1990, Prime Minister VP Singh’s government agreed to provide 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), which led to widespread protests against its implementation, leading to debate on whether this would affect the efficiency and quality of personnel in the bureaucracy. . Of course, India also witnessed the controversial Ram Janmabhoomi movement, which aimed to build a temple for Lord Ram on the site of the Babri Masjid. This, the Hindutva project, is still in its nascent stage, brought to life by Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier this year.
A still from ‘Indian’ (1996)
The impact of these events had a profound effect on the psyche of all Indians, including the fictional ‘Indian’ Senapathy, who was a freedom fighter who became the killer of a corrupt government official. For one thing, they have certainly begun to distrust state control over India’s economy and other government institutions and see them as bastions of corruption. Two, he seems to have developed a subconscious bias against reservation, which paved the way for OBCs along with SCs and STs to get representation in education and jobs (supported by the personal experience of his daughter’s death in the film). And, not to mention, he ends up killing his own son Chandru, a government brake inspector, for taking bribes that lead to the deaths of many children.
If we use this ideological and socio-political framework, director Shankar was before the film gentleman, which tells the story of a non-Brahmin Kicha (the son of a cook who works in a government school) who, in order to fulfill the dreams of students like Ramesh, a poor Brahmin friend unable to enter a medical college due to caste and poverty, decides to rob the rich and powerful to build a college that will admit everyone. 30 years later, it’s obvious Your gentleman the premise is not old when we see how the representation of OBC and SC/ST is still in India in all spheres, so it is rallying for INDIA’s Opposition bloc in Lok Sabha 2024. elections.
The desire for vigilante justice
There is a perceptive interview of Kamal Haasan from the 1990s, in which he talks about the ideological issues he is dealing with. gentleman and India that still rings true. With regard to gentlemanhe said that he was not really interested in doing the film because his original idea was about the militancy of a Brahmin boy, and Indiahe admits that the person who kills the corrupt and instills fear in him is the dream of every ‘common man’, the narrative promotes ‘fascism’ by building ‘freedom fighters and uncompromising parents’, who kill corrupt officials. as a solution.
A still from ‘Indian 2’ | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements
Indians the structure is rather interesting: to justify why Senapathy killed the small fry in the State Government machine – a doctor, a Treasury official, an inspector, a VAO and a brake inspector (his own son) – there are two different flashbacks and many subplots, one to show the patriotic past and the courage he gave the justification of his killing spree, and two, to explain why he chose these people to ‘weed out’. And here the opinion of the actor Kamal Haasan that the film plays on the desire of fascists to look for saviors to clean up the corrupt ‘system’, a political idea that continues to be popular around the world, instead of taking part in a long-term event of reforming the system, rings true.
Also Read | Why Shankar’s directorial legacy transcends greatness
India making villains out of Government officials who are appointed through reservations and prescribes death for corrupt officials is the only solution while rejecting the idea of ​​’trial in a court of law’ as a complete waste and wasting time. In fact, Senapathy is ready to sacrifice his own daughter by refusing to pay a bribe to an official in exchange for completing the legal formalities to start treating her burns, but then kills everyone who asks for a bribe from him, refusing to explore. the option of using the law as a solution.
In the last 33 years since the Indian economy has been liberalized, big business has regularly colluded with the state machine, resulting in the creation of a small number of big and flashy billionaires, whose loans are regularly removed. Not to be outdone, there are politicians and political parties who can rival India’s big billionaires.
The promise of a new narrative?
Trailer for India 2 offers some insight into what the film is about: the desire to find a savior continues and is popular in India, considering the declining quality of life and growth of the Indian people, despite the use of the wealth of politicians. to bribe voters in elections and billionaires continue to count on India’s resources. Indians 2 the trailer begins with a voice saying that the country is getting worse, right: “What country is this? No jobs that match our qualifications… no jobs that pay us a decent salary… no benefits even if we pay taxes, thieves keep stealing, those who break the law keep doing it (without repercussions)” whose character played by actor Siddharth says, “We are not enough to change the system.” However, he quickly states that ‘we need hunting dogs,’ which foreshadows the arrival of the Indians that’s it to eliminate corruption again in India today.
With the discourse on India for the last 30 years, one might expect that the problem of corruption in India is painted in a more complete and holistic way than blaming some ‘corrupt government officials’ and more advanced than arguing that Murder is the only permanent solution to the problem.
There is a line spoken by Kamal Haasan in the trailer: “You take the Gandhian route, I will take the Netaji route,” which promises that the film, while retaining the impatience associated with corruption in society, acknowledges the real problem and does not. do not want to simplify the problem to the local Village Organizer as the root cause of corruption. Of course, Indians continue to face many social ills today: continued hatred of minorities, and atrocities against Dalits and disadvantaged groups, continue. One hopes that the Indians that’s it has also thought long and hard in the last 30 years about this problem and has something to offer as a solution.
Indian 2 releases in theaters this Friday
