At first look, one is forgiven for thinking it was going to be a non-cerebral offering with senseless violence, gore, pyrotechnics and stunts that defy science principles. On further viewing, one would assume there would be lots of Indian bashing, Hindu culture ridiculing and Modi shaming. It cannot be so wrong.
Far from it, this is also an attempt to retell the Ramayana story. In the Ramayana narration of events around 5000 BCE, King Rama was exiled for 14 years into the forest after political arm-twisting led by his stepmother. Raavan became the villain when Rama turned down Ravana's sister, Shurpanakha's sexual advancement. Her antics got her nose slashed off. Raavan kidnapped Rama's wife, Sita. Rama, in search of his missing wife, Sita, befriended Hanuman, and the rest is history, as written by Valmiki and others.
In the Ramayana, Rama and Hanuman are on the side of the truth, whereas Raavan, with his 10 branches of wisdom, assumes the protagonist role. However, this film version deliberately mixes up the roles of the hero and villain.
Monkey Man is a streetfighter who appears regularly at an underground no-holds-barred mixed martial arts fight scene for a measly stash of cash. He has a dark secret from his past for which a score must be settled.
In that town, there is a heartless businesswoman who basically controls all the vices around. The men in power support her activities—the police chief and his yeomen, the strongmen in town, the politicians, and the saffron-robed man of God.
The fighter, @ Bobby, @Kid, grew up as a tribal kid with his loving mother at the edge of the forest, but greedy businessmen ruthlessly burned their house to take over their land. His mother was lit alive by the police chief right in front of his eyes in his childhood - hence the need to avenge.
To build up the climax to the eventual destruction of the corrupt system, the audience is feasted to (or has to sit through, depending on your taste) minutes of swashbuckling and pumping of adrenaline done in the veins of 'Kill Bill', 'War of the Dogs' or any of the Hong Kong fast-paced kungfu movie fast-moving cameras. Actually, the action sequences are of high standards.
The way I see this movie is told is that of a modern tale of Ramayana. A leftist embroiled in anti-Hindu sentiments always looked at modern Rama as an intruder. He intruded on the forest, initially occupied by the Adivasis, to upset their equilibrium by invading their space and hunting their food. In a screwed-up way, in modern-day Ramayana, Ravana is not the lone villain but has joined forces with Rama. Symbolically, Rama is referred to as the safron-clad religious man. He is in cahoots with other branches of power. Allegorically, they are represented in the ten heads of Ravana.
So, Hanuman, as the last man standing, has to go rogue to defend his people. He is Bobby @ Kid, trying to right the wrong, undoing the sins of the religious leaders, tycoons, political leaders, the police and the whole cabal of oppressors of the marginalised.
At the end of the day, even though it was filmed in Batam, Indonesia, the whole show primarily aims to paint India as a lawless country. By repeatedly showing Hindu iconography in many of its frames, it tries to showcase Hindu culture as twisted. Everyone is corrupt, and there can be no redemption.
Is it a mere coincidence that its release is eerily in the year when India, the biggest democracy, is about to re-elect Modi for an unprecedented third time? Still, the movie has a high entertainment quotient and high-value production. It is highly recommended for the curious-minded who do not mind the occasional head-butting. (Or is it butthurt?)
Growing up immersed in many devotional movies, I concluded they were all too uninspiring. I remember Dasavaratham (1976) was a bore with song after song. Then some stories were unbelievable, like Aathi Parasakthi(1971), where a new moon day becomes full with the Goddess' divine intervention. I was not impressed. I was seeking a scientific explanation, which I have yet to find.
As an adult, I was once called bewildered by a Christmas production by a local church. It was produced, choreographed, stage-managed, and sound-checked all by the teenage members of its church. And the musical accompaniment was theirs too. Now, I told myself, that is what draws (or keeps) members in their fold. It fulfilled their contemporary needs - staying attuned to the times and keeping them 'entertained'.
That was where it stood. Hindu narratives remained myths, and the hidden life lessons were lost in translation. Times have changed, and Hindus are returning with a bang. This film can be considered one of their tools to capture the minds of young Hindus.
The story is the one we all know. Rama, with Sita and Laxman, is exiled to the jungles. In her journeys, Raavan's sister, Shurpanaka, sighted a spunk in Rama. Her advances were rejected, and he slashed her nose when she could not accept rejection. She ran crying to her brother. She enticed him with Rama's wife. Then the kidnapping, Jentayu, Rama's meeting with the Vanaras (ape-like jungle people), the invasion of Lanka and Sita's rescue.
The above was depicted in impressive CGI against possible cinematographic depictions of what a primordial Bharat would have looked like. It piqued the young Hindus' interest, making them open their Amar Chitra comic books and watch or make Youtube presentations. Otherwise, they will still go on with life thinking that avatar is an American word created by James Cameron.
Depending on which side of the camps one stands for, this movie was either an epic disappointment or a phenomenal collection at the box office.
I am surprised that many states in India and even Nepal is requesting for screening ban in their vicinity. Whilst non-BJP-ruled states in India are worried about the spread of Hindutva in their states, Nepal is offended that Sita is described as India's daughter. The jokers failed to remember that in ancient Bharat, there was a vast spread of land from present-day Pakistan to Myanmar and Afghanistan to Lanka, following the teachings of Sanarta Dharma. In fact, if not for Pandit Nehru, for all his wisdom when he blockaded Nepal's entry into the Union of India, Nepal would have been part of India.
Then many quickly point out that this film version deviates from the 'original' Ramayana. The million-dollar question is, which is referred to as the original one? There is Vyasa's Ramayana, Tulsidas' version, Kamban Ramayanam and more in India. Many interpretations are seen outside India in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Indochina and as far as Japan. Various versions of Ramayana are told in their puppet shadow play of Wayang Kulit. Is one more authentic than the other?
Politicians in the South who subscribe to the now defunct 'Aryan Invasion Theory' insist that the story of Ramayana is the tale of invasion by an army from the North to crush a prosperous Dravidan monarch is in for a surprise. Some quarters assert that Raavan originates from a kingdom in present-day Uttar Pradesh, the Northern part of India. On his visit to the view of the kingdom ruled by Kuberan, he usurped power.
Do not believe the cyberspace ratings on the film. Google gave it a 4.4/100 rating, which is basically a dud. All those burning the box office and laughing all the way to the bank cannot be idiots!
P.S. If 'Adipurush' refers to primordial man, logically, it should be Manu, the 'Adam' of the Hindu scriptures. Interestingly, the term Adipurush also includes Siva, Vishnu and Brahma. Rama, an incarnation of Vishnu, is deemed the first human being to have embodied the qualities of righteousness, truth, and compassion in their purest form.
If I tell you today is Thursday, how do you really know that today is indeed Thursday? It is not good enough because yesterday was Wednesday, and tomorrow is Friday, as today is no different from any day. As we know, during the era of Pope Gregory, the Church realised it was missing a few days. It had overlooked the leap years and had to erase 10 days in 1752. So, for all you know, Thursday today could be a Monday.
Well, the Hindus have the bragging rights to say their calendar says we are in the year 12,000, and they did not have to correct for errors and had had remarkable ways of calculating events. Even when the world was scared of venturing too far off on sea as they thought they would slip off at the edge of a flat earth, Hindu scriptures knew the planets were spherical structures. Scriptures say that Varaha, Vishnu's avatar, saved Earth from massive floods by placing the spherical planet on its snout.
When it comes to stating events in the ancient scriptures, the scribes have been quite precise with their descriptions. They have referenced events to planetary and astronomical positions to the tilt. Take Rama and Krishna's date of birth, for example. Rama, being a prince, his time of birth and his astrological chart is recorded precisely. Krishna's hush-hush delivery within the confines of prison walls, too, is noted duly.
With the knowledge of modern astronomy and the help of planetarium software, we can predict precisely when such a constellation occurred aeons ago. Scientists have determined that Rama and Krishna lived around 7000 and 5000 years ago, respectively. (January 10, 5114 BCEand July 21, 3228 BCE). From Valmiki's Ramayana, we know that Rama's date of birth is January 10, 5114 BCE, between 12 noon and 1pm in Ayodhya, Shukla Paksha in Chaitra month. Due to equinox precision calculation, a day is adjusted every 72 years. That explains why Ram Jayanthi is celebrated in March or April now.
The critical question now is whether the story of Rama is a myth or part of history. Most landmarks mentioned about Rama and his father's kingdom have disappeared into the abyss of time. Ram Sethu remains the only relic to claim a stake in his existence. Descriptions of King Rama, his expedition to fight King Ravana in Lanka and the Vanara army is mentioned in many writings, even outside India. But can these writing be proof of historicity? Valmiki's Ramayana, unlike its other versions, like Tulsidas', Kalidas' or Kambar's, is referred to as itihasa (meaning 'thus it happened') because of its extensive descriptions. The others are labelled great poetical works (kavya).
There is a pressing need to clarify this issue now more than ever. There have been plans for a long time of dredging through the shoals to deepen the Palk Straits to allow ocean liners to skirt around the Indian peninsula. That would mean much ecological damage and possible destruction of an ancient engineering marvel, Ram Sethu or Nala Sethu, after Rama's chief engineer who conceived the idea when Rama's Army wanted access to Lanka.
Present-day engineers have proposed a possible prototype ancient builders may have used with the material available to build the bridge between India and Sri Lanka. As early as the 18th century, the idea of deepening the sea bed between Palk Strait and the Gulf of Mannar was mooted. Many electoral promises were made to increase between the two countries and avoid the need for big vessels to circumvent Sri Lanka to get to the East coast of India. After many feasibility studies, the Government of India, in 2005, decided to get serious. It met resistance from religious and environmental groups.
Some plans showed the need to drill through sacred areas, while others may pose an environmental nightmare.
The Government of India and the concerned parties have an ongoing legal battle. The opposition to the project wants the area to be declared a national heritage. Most parties agree that the construction of such a structure would not make any business sense. The amount of fuel saved by the distance is offset by the time taken by pilots navigating through the narrow strait. Detractors accuse the proponents of simply erasing any remnant trace of the rich culture and marvellous engineering feats the ancient Hindu civilisation could showcase. It is in their vested interest.
This 2022 movie which did not really make an impact at the box office, shows the diversity of Indian moviemaking. Deviating from their usual dance, music, romance and melodrama fare, they are venturing into other genres. This one must have had a cue from 'Indiana Jones' or 'The Mummy'. In cahoots with governmental officials, a private enterprise wants to develop Palk Straits. An atheist archaeologist who initially thought that Ram Setu is a natural occurrence is now convinced that it is indeed a man-made structure. He has to race against time to convince the Supreme Court of his findings before the greedy entrepreneurs usurp the land for their selfish needs.
[There are veiled references in this movie. Aryan, the archaeologist, is the learned man. Aryan means learned in Sanskrit, not Northerners, as coined by Max Müller introduced in his now-debunked Aryan Migration Theory. The floating lab is named Pushpak with obvious reference to Pushpak Vimana, a flying vehicle owned by Kubera and used by Rama and his entourage after the tour-de-mission in Lanka. Anjaneya is another name for Hanuman. Here, the mysterious character who helps Dr Aryan is Anjaneya. There is a hint that he appeared out of thin air and disappeared mysteriously. Legend has it that Hanuman, being a true Ramaa devotee, received the boon of immortality. He sometimes manifests in various forms to help people in distress, so believe the reciters of Hanuman Chalisa.]
The Catholic Church, living under a rock, all these while imprisoning people like Galileo and Copernicus, realised under the leadership of Pope Gregory of their follies. Scientists of that era were summoned to recalculate the calender for modern consumption. The modern calendar, however, was not immediately practised by everyone at once.
A discussion came up with a friend the other day. Rama and Sita are hailed as exemplary beings who lived to the expectations of how a human should live on Earth. Take the perspective of Sita. A princess by birth, not exposed to the rumble and tumble of living in the wild, had no choice but to follow her husband, Rama, when the King decreed that he should spend 14 years of exile in the jungle. Playing the role of a good wife, she just followed without any opposition.
Through no fault of hers, she had to endure the kidnapping and incarceration in Lanka. She did not develop Stockholm Syndrome but stayed steadfast that her beau would save the day. When she was eventually rescued and finally returned to Ayodhya, she was not hailed as a good wife. She was instead used as a bad example when a dhoby refused to accept his wayward wife back to fold after being caught in a possible remorseful affair.
Rama, living up to the role of a King, and Sita, the symbol of a chaste Queen, had to endure tests of fidelity. Sita took all these in stride. When a pregnant Sita was sent off to the jungles a second time, her thoughts were only about who would perform her wifely duties in her absence. It seems that she had no resentment against the King for the turmoil she had to endure in the name of royal reputation. Such is said to be the role of a good Indian wife - to trust that the husband would do the correct thing for the household and its family members. Of course, neither everyone can be Rama nor can everyone be a Sita!
Fast forward to the present. A modern person cannot stomach all this bunkum. To him or her, individual liberty is prime. Individual rights, freedom of expression and non-conformity to traditional, seemingly archaic, unscientific dogma are essential. Maybe in that way, this movie highlights the patriarchal nature of our societies and how females have to play the part of a quiet wife. This can be quite challenging when a traditional society expects a female member of a community to be seen, not heard. She is expected to perform her preset duties and not question or give opinions! But then, detractors would assert that eventually, the wayward husband came back to his senses, and that is the role of a wife, a stabilising figure.
This 1969 award-winning new-wave cinema movie from the land of Kamasutra is a non-linear presentation of a tale of philandering inter-city bus driver, Sucha Singh, and his obedient wife, Balo. The wife faithfully prepares his daily supply of meals to pass to him when he passes the village bus stop. Sucha Singh is a creep. He comes home only once a week. He spends all the time immersed in the pleasure of alcohol, gambling and his mistress.
Balo, who lives with her younger sister, is quite aware of her two-timing husband. She hangs on, maybe due to financial dependence or avoiding the stigma of being a divorcee or just hoping that he will repent. At the same time, Balo has to fend off an aggressor from her sister.
In this profoundly slow-moving presentation which focuses a lot on inanimate objects and body parts rather than on faces, we get a flip flop between the present and past of what happens in Balo and Sucha. A simple story that brings back the memory of our past when days felt like longer than 24 hours and a year felt like a lifetime!
It is a piece of land right in the middle of the triangular subcontinent, a land so remote that King Dasavaratha thought it was apt for Ram, Sita and Laxman to spend 14 years in exile. A forest lush with various flora, deer, birds with psychedelic-hued feathers, the cursed stone of Ahalya, sages, tribes and demons used as their playground and workstations. It soon came to be non-existent with climate change and invading foreign invaders over the generations.
Locally made pistols
The farangs took a particular interest in this area when they were kings. The abundance of minerals in that area piqued their curiosity. Many mines sprung up, and the visitors thought it was an appropriate venue to host numerous factories specialising in gun manufacturing, ammunition and bombs.
There it was, Jabalpur of the central state of Madhya Pradesh with its gun factories, military barracks and related military training posts.
What used to be a playing field for sages the like of Gautama who sought peace beyond the physical world is now a minefield for training warriors to shatter the living daylights of their enemies.
@India Coffee House
The invaders also brought in uniforms which impressed the locals. Somehow, this uniformed dressing gave authority to its wearers, and the natives were dying to put them on their skin. They did not mind that it would mean thrashing their own kind and playing subservient to the colonial masters.
The locals in foreign costumes were God-sent to the invaders. It made it much easier for the HQ some 7,000 km away to cow their subjects into submission. This is how British troops and officials about 20,000 ruled over the 300 million population in India.
Before Hanuman and Sugriva could help Rama with his rescuing work, they had to fulfil specific tasks in the Vanara kingdom. Sugriva's twin brother, Vali had forcibly taken over his throne and his wife. On his defence, Vali feels that Sugriva had betrayed him. Vali had previously gone to fight a demon deep into a cave. After not hearing about his whereabouts, Sugriva assumes Vali to be dead, closed the cave door to trap the beast and took over as the ruler. Sure enough, the returning Vali was not pleased. He not only fought back the realm as well as his wife too.
Vali had obtained a boon through Brahma who happily bestowed upon him the power to draw half of the energy of his opponents who should encounter him face to face.
Rama has to help out in return for the Vanara army.
To defeat the mighty Vali, Rama had to resort to what some warriors would call a dirty tactic. He instructed Sugriva to start a fight with Vali and from behind the covers of a tree, he mortally wounded Vali. Sita was rescued and blah blah.
The movie took this part of Ramayana to justify one’s seemingly ungentlemanly conduct to satisfy one’s personal intention. They seem to say that the outcome supersedes the means. Achieve your cause at all expense. Petta is another masala movie that has too much senseless violence and thrives on the past meaningless mannerisms and ‘stunts’ that made Rajinikanth famous in his early days.
The real hidden message of this movie is politics. As we are aware, Rajni’s recent dabble in politics is frowned upon by citizens of Tamil Nadu. The thought of him associating with Modi and the BJP does not seem to go well. His foes describe him of selling out the Tamilian struggles to the Central control and the Northerners. Note the characterisation of politicians from UP in the film as the baddies and how he, as the true blue Tamilian, befriends a member of the villains to defeat them at the own game.
It is definitely his political statement. Now the question is, are the voters going to buy it?
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