RIFLE RANGE BOY

Ankur (The Seedling, Hindi, Deccani; 1974) Director: Shyam Benegal https://www.amazon.com/Ankur-Seedling- Hindi-English-subtitles/dp/B008V22NKE The recent passing of actor Manoj Kumar reminded everyone of the patriotic Bollywood films (once known as Hindi or Hindustani cinema) that endeavoured to stir nationalist fervour among the audience. His films from 1965 to 1974, which include Shaheed (1965, about Bhagat Singh), Upkar (1967, set against the backdrop of the Indo-Pak war of '65), Purab Aur Paschim (1970, celebrating Indian values over the West) ,  and Roti Kapada Aur Makaan (1974, emphasising the needs of the common man—bread, clothing, and shelter)—prompted his audience to reflect on their country rather than be numbed by the intoxication of love or the struggles of others in romance. Interestingly, the idea for Upkar came to Manoj Kumar after he was honoured by India's beloved PM, Lal Bahadur Shastri, who inspired him with the notion of a farmer transforming into a war he...

Tamil Kudimagan(Tamil, Tamil Citizen; 2023) Director:Esakki Karvannan https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/tamil/movie-reviews/t amil-kudimagan/movie-review/103477872.cms We are told, 'our profession is our God' (செய்யும் தொழில்லே தெய்வம்). From this adage, we understand that by performing our designated jobs diligently, we respond to a divine call. Along the way, in our long civilisation, our profession has come to define who we are and our status in life. We can blame humanity for messing everything up! What began as a description of human aptitude and traits was categorised into academic types, those with athletic and combative inclinations, the entrepreneurial type, or the diligent and conscientious workers. People excelled in their respective skills in accordance with their innate talents. Over time, families became pigeon-holed into specific professions. Domineering behaviour is an inherent trait within us. In this way, elitists among us established hierarchi...

Ghatashraddha (Kannada, The Death Ritual; 1977) Director, Screenplay: Girish Kasaravalli There must be a reason why Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, George Lucas' Family Foundation, and Film Heritage Foundation decided to restore the film from the original negatives in 2024. In 2002, it was voted one of the 20 best films in Indian cinema. It also snatched the Best Feature Film award, among other awards, in 1977. Looking at current world sentiments about India, the elephant in the room is that the film is about Brahmin bashing. The colonial masters are to be blamed for anti-Brahminic feelings running high among the Indian public at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The British wanted to understand how the Indian society was spread out. For simplicity, they used the European class system when they commenced their census taking. The varna system in India was too complicated for the Europeans to comprehend. Hence, a hierarchical system was devised wi...

Origin (2023) Director: Ava Duverney (Based on the book, ' Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents' by Isabel Wilkerson) It is an interesting way of looking at all the problems affecting the world today. It is blamed on caste segregation. Traditionally, we think of caste as a problem only affecting India. And Indians believe it is a system brought in by colonial masters and divided the nation to ease control. The stifling of one layer of society over the other is not just based on the colour of their skin. It is something beyond. The group at the top end of the food chain would want to maintain the status quo and keep the people beneath them forever squashed. The writer, Isabel Wilkerson, a Pulitzer Prize winner, compared situations in three scenarios.  She looked at the black situation in America, where blacks are stereotyped as troublemakers, poor, unemployed, unemployable and criminals. The system reinforces this stereotype upon them to a level that even the blacks buy into t...

CASTE IS NOT HINDU 'Caste is a Construct of the Colonial Invaders' Authors: Guruji Sundara Raj Anatha, Aykshya Simrhen Raj, Pardip Kumar Kukreja. If anything life has taught us, it is this. People are narcissistic and egoistic. People try to understand everything but are unwilling to accept that things are way more complicated than an average man can comprehend. We are all guilty of cognitive dissonance and suffer from the Duning-Kruger effect, overestimating our competence. People always try to dominate each other and clamour for the joy and privileges of being in power and a leader. Those in the higher rung of the hierarchy are pretty comfortably perched high up, looking down at the mere mortals. Those stranded at the lower perch of the food chain are gaslighted to be convinced that they are there because of their own doing. Their leaders want to maintain the status quo to ensure their position and conserve their high status. A house cat, quite comfortable not needing to hunt...

Dev Bhumi - Land of the Gods (2016) Director: Goran Paskaljević As we grew up and our eyes slowly peeled open to the changes around us, we felt ashamed. Maybe because of the western type of education taught to us, we were embarrassed by our heritage. We perceived our own culture as archaic and that our parents were living under a rock. The world, it appeared then, was changing, and we did not want to be left behind. We could wait to grow wings and pave our own paths. We ran through the gruelling mill of life, and soon enough, we realised that there was wisdom in what our ancestors did what they did. The raging hormones of youth and the lure of material gains clouded our judgement. We tell ourselves, perhaps, they were right. We yearn to get back and make amends. But, no. The others think you are a fool and are best left alone. This 2016 movie made by a Serbian director with co-writing input by the famous Victor Banerjee, is a slow-moving film with the breathtaking view of the Himalayas...

Madaathy, An Unfairy Tale. (Tamil; 2021) Director & Writer: Leela Manimekalai It is said there is a back story behind every village deity. Madaathy is one such goddess. A representative of the feminine powers of the Universe, it is said that she is the embodiment of the spirit of a wronged low caste adolescent girl.  The first scene itself sets the mood for the rest of the movie. A newly-wed couple, in their best attire, goes on a joyful motorbike ride to Madaathy temple. En route, the bride realises that she just started her menstruation and insists that they stop to get some kind of sanitation napkin. It would flash upon viewers that we are into something taboo. Are they going to cancel their journey or continue to the destination? We are left to wonder. The story revolves around a group of the lowest of the Dalit community, the Puthirai Vannars.  Sometimes, I wonder whether these types of communities and such levels of oppression do actually exist. According to the dire...