The invisible people

Kakkoos (கக்கூஸ், Toilet; Tamil, 2015 Documentary)
Director: Divya Bharathi

It is a difficult film to watch. In fact, I had to skip watching many scenes of this documentary as it proved too graphic for me to stomach. But that is the very reason, the director, Divya Bharathi made this documentary. Divya, a member of the Leninist-Marxist party and a social worker, got the idea to put it in film after reading about a spate of deaths of sanitation workers in after toxic fumes inhalation.

We, of the middle and upper-middle class members of the society often forget the people in the fringe whose hard work assures us of having cushy and healthy lives. Without their deeds, the aesthetically pleasing white wash appearances of our cities would not stay that way.

Viewing this movie reminded me of my Professor in Parasitology told the class when some of us squirmed while preparing a slide from a stool specimen. He told us to respect the sample as it was essentially his 'bread and butter'!

Director interviewing a worker

Even though the Indian Laws are clear on sanitation, the rights of employees and the discrimination of people based on caste, the reality is far from what is inked in the Legislation. The Dalits are the little people who are seen but purposefully ignored by the society. They are left to do the menial, dirty and dangerous works that nobody dares to do. Social hurdles, lack of opportunities and lack of education trap them in the perpetual, cyclical and vicious cycle of poverty, melancholia and hopelessness. Their presence reminds us of our organic nature; a reminder that we are all just full of obnoxious gas and loads of toxic crap.

At the local level, in the municipality of Chennai, the workers interviewed in the flick seem to allege of being shortchanged by contractors appointed by the local government. The officials appear to put the cart before the wheel. They stinge on building modern facilities and are not worried about the loss of workers' health and lives as they handle night-soil without any protective gears. On top of that, privatisation of sanitation services in Chennai put the poor workers of the unscheduled at risk of being cheated by non-payments for services by unscrupulous employers. Invariably, these poor souls have neither safety nets nor avenues to state their grievances.

Even though the powers that be are gung ho in building modern toilets to prevent indiscriminate expulsion of human excrement, the level of civic consciousness among the general public is sorely missing. Even watching this documentary churns the stomach of the viewer, what more to the people who there cleaning these up surrounded by smell and sight of the offensive. This coming from one of the oldest civilisations with the oldest language in the world, nuclear capability and poised to be the biggest economy in the world is surprising, even laughable.

https://thereel.scroll.in/832273/toilet-ek-prem-katha-it-isnt-documentary-reveals-the-brutal-reality-of-manual-scavenging

Never stop fighting till the fight is done!

Well, that is the tagline for the 1987 production of 'The Untouchables'. In real life, the fight does not have to be a physical transmission of force over another mass, but it can refer to any challenge in life; be it psychological, ambition or over disease!

Kevin Costner (Elliot Ness), a clearly under-rated star, stars here as the Federal Agent from US Treasury sent to Chicago during the gangster-filled time of the Prohibition era when the production and transportation of liquor above a certain level was prohibited. He was facing an uphill battle trying to abate the sales of bootleg booze as the mobster in charge, Al Capone, had practically got everyone from the municipality to law enforcers under his thumb.

Robert De Niro, the likeable villain, gives a sterling performance as Capone. This guy can do any role- a soldier (Deer Hunter), a mobster (Casino, Godfather II and so many others), a boxer (Raging Bull), a deranged escaped convict (Cape Fear), a cop (Ronin), a doting father (Everybody's okay), in a comedy like 'Meet The Parents' you name it...

After a failed raid foiled by the corrupt inside job, Ness assembles his team of bootleg busters. He recruits Jim Malone (Sean Connery), a veteran beat officer, a marksman recruit Stone (a very young Andy Garcia) and an accountant sent by the Treasury, Agent Wallace. Wallace later proofed to be of value as they managed to nail Capone down with tax charges rather than for bootleg whisky.

Even though the character played by the original 007 dies midway through the show, Connery managed to steal the show with his witty lines and charisma. He must have impressed the jury too to win the Best Supporting Actor award in Academy that year.

It is just amazing how the studio can re-enact the buildings, automobiles and ambience to bring us back in time to the early 30s! A classic scene, in my opinion, which would forever stay in everybody's mind would be the one which occurred at a Chicago train station involving a lookout for Capone's escaping bookkeeper, a bust-up with the baddies and a baby in a cradle in the middle of all this.