After a long time, I want to write reviews of two refreshing movies I watched lately — Tere Bin Laden and Peepli (Live).
Tere Bin Laden’s story is based in Pakistan and is a great piece of humor and satire about how this young, handsome 🙂 reporter Ali (Pakistani singer Ali making his debut) wishes to immigrate to “Amrika” as he calls it and then the events unfold which make him concoct a cock-and-bull plan involving a chicken-raiser farmer who is a Bin Laden lookalike. There are a lot of funny sequences and digs in the movie. The manipulations done by US diplomats (Barry John does a great job here) and the boot-licking of Pakistani (could have easily been Indian) diplomats are well presented. There is no overt preaching, yet the satire is unmistakable. The lingo is delightfully rustic Punjabi Urdu, which I recall from the old Pakistani plays I have seen. The script, the casting, and the settings are wonderful along with some nice songs. I really loved it.
Peepli (Live) — I was keen to watch this one. I immensely like Aamir, and a project produced by him is bound not to disappoint. I was glad to read that the lady director is a journalist who has culled her own experiences to script the movie. The movie unfolds in Peeple, a hamlet in Mukhya Pradesh — could be easily a state like UP or MP. The movie is about the plight of the poor farmers in the villages, specifically addresses farmer suicides; the futile implementation of govt. schemes which never reach the poor; the media circus which cares little for the event except for generating their own TRPs; the corny politicians; and the disconnect between the urban and rural India. The movie is real in its script, characters and language (using a rural dialect of Hindi). The cast is delightful, coming as they do from a theater background. The movie does have a documentary feel to it, and it depicts reality. Don’t expect the regular song and dances, though a couple of songs are really good. There are so many good things and small instances in the movie which would touch each one of us. It is certainly not a feel-good movie; it does not intend to be one. It is hard hitting and shows reality. It is thinking cinema and good cinema. Watch it for the real story of India’s villages.
I am happy that good scripts and great casts are back in reckoning again!
Rachna says 
Leave a reply to rohini Cancel reply