Reality Bytes

I stand duly corrected on my quibble on Twitter and Facebook about not too many good biopics coming out of...

I stand duly corrected on my quibble on Twitter and Facebook about not too many good biopics coming out of India. After watching Meryl Streeps stupendous performanceI was truly gobsmacked by her bravura turn as British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher it was with some trepidation that I agreed to spend a lovely Sunday afternoon sans appointments watching a film on an outlaw Paan Singh Tomar.

However,having watched the film,I can safely say that it was a weekend well spent. Paan Singh Tomar,directed by Tigmanshu Dhuliahe assisted Shekhar Kapur on Bandit Queen does a fine job of chronicling Paan Singh Tomars transformation from an Indian Army soldier who excelled in the Steeplechase race,to a feared bandit terrorising the Chambal.

In fact,Kapur,on Twitter,has even hailed it better than his masterpiece! Thats high praise,and rather well -deserved.

Irrfan who has dropped Khan from his name is elegant and understated in the title-role wherein he is first newbie army recruit whose seniors,through a series of comical incidents,discover his abilities. He is soon transferred to the sports department and runs his way to glory,creating and breaking athletic records. A family dispute over land in his village forces him to quit the army and return to his family duties in the village where the situation escalates into a bloody feud compelling Tomar to a life of violence,something he had always eschewed.

There is a line in the film that goes,Chambal mein dushman khatam ho jaate hain. Dushmani nahin In Chambal,enemies die,not the enmity. And so it is with Tomar who eventually cannot outrun his enemies. The film is well-nuanced and chooses a pace that is more real time than dramatic. The writing is almost pitch-perfect in the way that characters are written,staying true to the ebb and flow of life in mofussil towns. Paan Singh Tomars relationship with his wife is well-depicted,wherein the two have to steal moments together during his vacations or his simplicity in speaking his mind before officers,oblivious to the repercussions. And so is his silent rage and despair when it draws home that his medals and accolades could not afford him the basic right of protecting what was lawfully his own.

While the landscape Paan Singh Tomar inhabitsChambalis exactly the same as Phoolan Devis,their stories are poles apart. Tomars tragedy is his fall from grace. After a killing episode,he meets with his superior who says,Ab hum kabhi nahin milenge. Tomars reply,Lekin meri khabre milti rahengi,is an example of the subtle use of language Hindi in this case sans hysteria and melodrama to convey the irony. And Dhulia uses it effectively right through the film.

There is a certain nobility to the protagonist,an almost Joseph Conrads Lord Jim like quality of one struggling to come to terms with his fall from grace. And dogged in his effort to reclaim it. Hopefully,this sterling effort that released after much delay will reinstate the industrys confidence in biopics. Who knows,if chosen as Indias official entry for the Oscars it may even land us the elusive honour.