Who wants to live forever?

Afsos (Regret, Hindi/English; 2020)
Amazon Prime Video

The human race is the way it is because we are mortal beings. We know we have a shelf life and we want to finish all our humanly possible achievements within our lifetimes. Since our existence is finite, we yearn to immortalise it via discoveries and inventions. Our zest to explore the world we are born into pushes us to yonder to foreign shores and new frontiers. 

Without the fear of death, we would probably be fat blobs, uninitiated to pursue any endeavours. Everything would seem purposeless. Relationships are meaningless as there is nothing to expect anymore. We know what happens and how it will end. The diseases that we will get will give us the pain of illnesses but not relief from the distress. We will regress to our primal state; engaging in purposeless activities with impunity, knowing that nothing awaits us at the end. The seven deadly sins of Man will have a field day.

With the fear of death and hope of a comfortable after-life or re-births, we tend to empathise and care for the less fortunate. By creating stories about a possible after-life which seems forever or another lifeform which may be worse than the current one, we are cowed into submission of an unseen power. That sets law and order. Only death can save our lives on Earth.

A refreshing dark comedy about a loser who is even hopeless at suicide: he has had 11 failed attempts. He tries to lie down in front of a moving train; a vagabond distracts him. He tries to drown; fishermen save him. He tries placing himself amid busy midday Mumbai traffic; motorists avoid him skillfully. He finally hires a hired killer but even the assassin fumbles as she is given the wrong address.

The protagonist suddenly finds a purpose in life. His story that he had written and had been repeatedly rejected receives attention from a possible publisher. Life suddenly has meaning. The problem is that the killer that he hired has a one-track mind. No job should be left unfinished. She goes after him repeatedly in a twist of errors and comedy.

Duleep Singh 

Meanwhile, on the other side of India, in Uttarakhand, 11 monks are killed. The remaining 12th monk is the suspect and is at large. He is purportedly holding the elixir of immortality (Amrut). The investigating police officer goes over to summon assistance from the Mumbai Police. Also in search for the Amrut is a British scientist. Hot on the trail of all these is an investigative journalist who is looking into the activities of the agency that sends hired assassins. To complete the imbroglio is the protagonist's therapist who wants to stop him from killing himself.  

An impressive feat with a touch of philosophy and a peek into thanatology, the study of death and dying. An exciting addition to the story is the character of Duleep Singh, the last Maharajah of Punjab and the Black Prince of Perthshire. He, at 180 years of age, is seen loitering around the railway station dying to have Death embrace him! He had apparently tricked the British by convincing them that the Kohinoor was indeed the Elixir of Immortality. The British realised the dupe when Queen Victoria died! Meanwhile, the elixir was nicely tucked unceremoniously in a vessel in a small temple in the cold, snowy mountains of Uttarakhand.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

He was no Maharajah!

The Black Prince (2017)


Punjab has the dubious honour of being one of the last states in India to stand steadfast against the might of the British. Even when it finally crumbled, the state was the site of one of the first resistance to the rule of the British Raj.

We are all too familiar with the prowess of the one-eyed Maharajah Ranjit Singh, who remains the only person that managed to conquer Afghanistan. Even the mighty Alexander the Great was blocked at the borders by King Porus with a little unceremonious help of the Anopheles mosquito. The 1919 Jallianwala Bhag massacre ignited the fire of nationalism.

On one hand, the Sikh can walk proudly with their heads held high knowing very well they had a few 'firsts'. However, as boastful as they may be of their feats, they would also bow their heads in shame for the treasonous acts of many their kind. 

On 13th April 1919, which happened to be the day the Sikhs celebrated their holy day of Vaisakhi, the Christian ushered in Palm Sunday. If Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday before the countdown, Colonel Dyers marched into Jillian Bhag for a meltdown. Even though history may suggest Dyer's miscalculations as the primary cause of the tragedy, the villainous misdeeds of fellow Sikhs cannot be understated. The heroes/martyrs and villains were both Sikhs. The whole episode illustrates the skilful mastery of the colonial masters at subjugating their subjects as well as to extricate themselves from misgivings. The villains continue performing their mercenary sepoy deeds through Independence all the way till the present. These turncoats remain critical of anything Indian but are still hearty with their praises of anything Western.

Duleep Singh

This film narrates the aftermath of the Sikh Empire with the demise of Maharajah Ranjit Singh. Dying without a succession plan proved costly. Infighting amongst stepbrothers led numerous assassinations probably orchestrated by the East Indian Company with the cooperation of fellow Sikhs with an eye on the throne or the wealth of the kingdom. A five-year-old Duleep Singh, the youngest son of Maharajah Ranjit Singh, was placed as a figurehead King, with his mother ruling on his behalf.

The British were fearful of the uprising of the Indians with Duleep Singh as the central unifying icon. Citing his mother's unstable mental condition as a reason, Ranjit Singh was kidnapped and brought to the UK. Ranjit grows up to be a confused adult. Having an existential crisis quite early in life, he ponders on his past, his religion and the glory of his race.

Even though with the benefit of artistic licence, the film tries to place Duleep Singh as one who makes a feeble attempt at regaining his throne with the cooperation of the French, Russians and the enemies of the British Crown, such a plot never actually happened. He lived his lavish life mostly as a convert Christian. His attempts at re-embracing Sikhism met a premature death. His remains were buried in an unmarked grave.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.