RIFLE RANGE BOY

Bastar: The Naxal Story (Hindi; 2024) Director: Sudipto Sen This is supposed to be inspired by actual events. That part may be accurate, but the problem is that this part of Indian history has been ongoing for so long that the moviemaker took the liberty of cutting and pasting events that happened at different times in India's history.  For the record, there was a rebellion in 1910 when the British were eyeing the minerals in Central India. Come to think of it, that may be when the word 'thug' came into the English language. Tribal people who resisted British invasion were labelled as carnivorous people worshipping a blood-thirsty form of Kaali named Thugeesewari. The tribals donned machetes for farming but were labelled as armed resistance forces instead. In the late 60s, when the Communist Party of India split after the Sino-Soviet split, a group of them had the idea of a peasant revolution changing the status quo. This group came to be named Maoist (after Chairman Mao). ...

Indian Predator: Murder in a Courtroom (2022) Documentary; Netflix Humans thought living in big numbers protected them from the elements, predators and even enemies. Security concerns were taken care of by the individual community itself. It was jungle justice with no higher justice to recourse. Might decided what was right! As communities coalesced into country-states, the job of security and protection was outsourced to the State. Suddenly there was no reason for the average citizen to hold powerful weapons. The duty to apprehend and punish wrongdoers was outsourced to State-owned agencies. These agencies were supposed to protect all levels of society, the powerful and powerless alike. It looks all nice on paper, but in reality, the mission statements of these agents are mere rhetorics to pacify the vote bank. The minorities and the weak can only cry foul, fill up the newspapers and breaking news segments and spit on the system. People will bear with the imperfections of the system. ...

Newton (Hindi; 2017) This movie is interesting because it is set in Chattisgarh, a state not usually featured in mainstream films.  Chattisgarh is located in the East-Central part of India and is a place with a very long history. It is mentioned in the Ramayana and Mahabharata and has seen many kingdoms rise and fall. The film's area is supposed to have been shot is Dakshina Kosala, the very jungle where Rama, Laxmana and Sita had undergone 14 years of exile in the wilderness. Now that jungle is said to be filled with various minerals,  everyone wants to lay their dirty hands. The Naxalites are roaming around with rifles while the ruling government want to appear to be doing the democratic thing. Come elections, all political candidates promise a new dawn of affluence and prosperity. In reality, what the politicians are really eyeing is the deal to get businessmen to mine the fortune in their land and get their cut of the whole transaction. Towards this end, the whole machiner...