Opinion Tamed rebellion
In its exploration of educational tyranny,Hindi cinemas articulation of dissent is essentially conformist....
In the autumn of 2000,a film inspired by Peter Weirs acclaimed Dead Poets Society hit the screens. Aditya Chopras Mohabbatein was set in an institution under the iron grip of an authoritarian principal,who prohibited romance. In a fantasy of absolute control,the character,played by Amitabh Bachchan,even locked the gates of the institution at night.
A striking feature of Hindi cinema in recent years dealing with oppressive nature of rigid,tyrannical institutions has been a personalising approach,where a central antagonist represents and embodies the morbid flaws of the institution. The narrative tool applied to demonstrate this is a tragic loss,which is used to explain their exceptional severity. This is as true of 3 Idiots,as it was of Mohabbatein in both cases,the characters played by Boman Irani and Amitabh Bachchan deal with the suicide of their offsprings. The institutions are shaped in their external image,with its absence of empathy and feeling,and defined by a megalomaniac pursuit of discipline.
In 3 Idiots,apart from the main protagonists,the emphasis is either on the unimaginative nerd who aces examinations or the flawed genius who is driven to suicide. The quiet majority lack any substantial voice those who pass through the grind unnoticed,without achievement or catastrophe,but are permanently damaged.
In Francois Truffauts The 400 Blows,there is a perennial gap between the dreamy inner life of the young Antoine Doinel and the deep-rooted pragmatism of the institutions he inherits. In the film,which was largely autobiographical,Truffaut recognised the limitations of institutions and their inability to encompass the whole of human experience and subjectivity. While in 3 Idiots,educational abodes are either claustrophobic dungeons (the Imperial College of Engineering) or beacons of freedom (the school which Rancho,the character played by Aamir Khan,runs towards the end of the film).
This facile binary is mirrored in the resolution to conflicts of values. In Mohabbatein,the universitys ills are banished by a mere change of guard,as Bachchan accepts defeat to a maverick teacher played by Shah Rukh Khan. In the end,the conflict is not about the institution itself,but its control. Similarly,in 3 Idiots,the antagonists internal transformation ends,in one stroke,all previous arguments that act as a premise for the films plot to unfold.
The passionate espousal of rebellion finds itself nullified as success is defined by the same yardstick that these films seemingly seek to defy. The dissent so overtly articulated in 3 Idiots,as in Taare Zameen Par,becomes akin to a defanged beast. Taare Zameen Par rails against the horror of the rat race and predatory competition,yet the young protagonists failures are redeemed by victory in an art competition. The individualistic passion for art is not enough it must receive the sanctity of institutional approval to become an admired trait.
In an incident towards the end of 3 Idiots,the erstwhile nerd,now a corporate millionaire,berates the lead character for ending up as a schoolteacher. But Rajkumar Hiranis inability to transform this confrontation into a moment of radical assertion represents the real failure of the film. Instead,the lead character is revealed as a prolific scientist,and the opportunity for challenging accepted definitions of success,by illustrating the many ways in which one can succeed,is lost.
Nothing sums up the conformist tenor of Hindi cinemas attempt to occupy an adversarial space than the postscript to the motto – try to become not successful,but capable that runs through 3 Idiots. A disclaimer promptly follows: if you are capable,success will automatically trail your tracks. In other words,you may rebel,but the definitions of success are,in the end,uniform and non-negotiable.
vaibhav.vats@expressindia.com
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