Peepli Live

Natha Das ManikPuri (Omkar Das Manikpuri), better known as Natha, is a poor farmer from the village of Peepli in Mukhya Pradesh, who struggles to farm enough money for his family made up of his elder brother, Budhia Das Manikpuri (Raghubir Yadav), his wife, Dhaniya (Shalini Vatsa) and his ailing mother, Amma (Farookh Zafar), who spends most of her time lying down and screaming at Natha and Dhaniya. Natha and Budhia often pretend to go out farming when actually they save up whatever money they have to buy alcohol. This has left the whole family famished and now the banks are demanding repayment of loans or else the family will be stripped off their land and house. In the meantime, the Mukhya Pradesh Government have called a by-election due to continuous criticism of their blind eye towards the desperate poverty that surrounds Indias largest state. The opposition Apna Dal Party believe they have a chance to form the government in this election as the people have lost faith in the long-serving Sammaan Party and its Chief Minister, Ram Babu Yadav (Jugal Kishore) who, along with Federal Agriculture Minister, Saleem Kidwai (Naseeruddin Shah), believes in the industrialisation of rural areas.

To save his land and to save his family from becoming homeless, Natha, encouraged by his brother, decides to commit suicide after he attends a session with the rural headmen for help and they suggest him that committing suicide is a good way to get money waived off, after which his family will receive heavy compensation for his death. While Natha and his brother are discussing the same at a local tea stall, this news gets reported by Rakesh, a local reporter from Peepli. This report then gets picked up and highlighted by the national English news channels and reaches the Chief Minister. The media starts surrounding Peepli sensing the possibility of a sensational suicide story. One ITVN journalist particularly keen on filming the event of Nathas death is Daytime Presenter, Nandita Malik (Malaika Shenoy).

She joins the local reporter Rakesh Kapoor (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and takes desperate measures to interview Natha and his family on the subject of Nathas suicide. However things get more tricky when rival Hindi news channel, Bharat Live finds out about Natha and Peepli. The news channel clashes with ITVN and each try to film Nathas death in their own manner. The Sammaan Party also soon discover Nathas plans and try to buy off Natha with sops to prevent him from committing suicide. Opposition parties like the Apna Dal and the CPI also get involved and plan to use Natha as a path to power in the elections.

Peepli soon becomes the centre of attention across Mukhya Pradesh.Nanditas frantic attempts to interview Natha get worse when Rakesh does not find Natha or anyone else in Peepli to interview. She seems unimpressed with Rakeshs compassionate stand towards Natha and believes that as reporters their duty lies in reporting and following the news and nothing else. On the other hand, Bharat Live continues to be successful in their attempts to interview. Yet as time goes on, Natha does not die.

Meanwhile the Sammaan Party realise that if Natha commits suicide, they will lose the elections. The rural headmen secretly kidnap Natha and hold to ransom for money from the opposition. Yet their plans are foiled when Rakesh discovers Deepak and his men holding Natha hostage at a Peepli barn. A rush occurs when people from Apna Dal, the CPI, ITVN, Bharat Live and Peepli villagers all rush to find Natha. In the confusion, a spillage accident from a Petromax lamp sets fire to the barn, which explodes and Rakesh is killed.

The Government officials mistake Rakesh for Natha and refuse to pay Nathas family the compensation money due to the death being an accident. Meanwhile Natha is in fact alive and flees to Gurgaon and is seen working as a daily labourer in the construction industry.His family loses their land to the bank.Peepli Live received positive reviews. Subhash K.

Jha, film critic and author of The Essential Guide to Bollywood, describes Peepli Live as a work of damning ramifications. He further states that, To most of us out here sitting in the auditorium, farmers suicide is just a headline. Read, regretted and then put to bed. Peeply (Live) is that savagely raw and hurtful wake-up call for the conscience which does not mince words. Nikhat Kazmi of the Times of India gave the film three and a half out of five stars stating, How smart can Indian cinema get? Exhilarating answer: Very smart.

And thats the bottomline of Peepli Live, a small little film, that showcases the real India without glossing over the contradictions of our fumbling-bumbling democracy or getting overtly sentimental about garibi and the attendant grime that goes with it. Pratim D. Gupta of The Telegraph wrote Peepli Live demands to be absorbed and not just watched over the weekend and praised the director Anusha Rizvi she has the gift of the dark humour satire ala Shyam Benegal and in her uncompromised shooting style, she shows the fire of Mira Nair. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama gave it four and a half out of five stars and argues that the concept [farmers suicides] would instinctively translate into a serious, thought-provoking film. But Peepli [Live] takes a grim and solemn issue, turns it into a satire, garnishes it with populist sentiment and makes a far greater impact than a mere documentary, had it tackled the burning issue.

In fact, like all Aamir Khan films, Peepli [Live] marries realism with a winning box-office formula most brilliantly. Mayank Shekhar of The Hindustan Times gave the film four out of five stars arguing that the satire is irresistible; the subtext, compelling. And yet neither shows itself up in any form of self-seriousness. The comic writing is immaculately inspired. Noyon Jyoti Parasara of Yahoo gave the film 3.

5 out of five and said, Peepli [Live] is a class act and director Anusha Rizvi and producer Aamir Khan could take a bow for working this into reality. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN also gave it three and a half out of five stars, calling it a scathing satire on the countrys apathy towards the rural class, and specifically towards farmers, Peepli Live employs a comic tone to tell a serious story. The witty script turns Natha into something of a local celebrity, who draws out the true character and motivations of all those who cross his path. Mathures Paul of The Statesman gave the film 4 out of 5 stars noting that, Anusha Rizvi demolishes successfully whatever little faith we had in the political process. Peepli (Live) is entertaining and inspiring.

As of 2 October 2010, Peepli Live has received a rating of 83% from critics (19 fresh and 4 rotten reviews) at Rotten Tomatoes. On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 69 out of 100, based on 12 reviews, indicating Generally Favorable reviews.