Stranger In Black

This post was intended to be my very first when I started blogging, but I guess ideas don't come to us by will. One must learn to identify and grab them as and when they sporadically get ignited in our minds... probably that's the difference between great writers and us.

I had been to Shanka's place for lunch few weeks back. I had to get some passport sized photos done urgently and so gave the negative for print in a digital photoshop near his place and collected the photos while leaving for home.

Me and Shanka went on Seeku's scooter, me driving. While returning home, I stopped at a T-Section leading to his street looking at the signal going red.

Shanka: Dei... yenda niruththune?
Me: signal da...
Shanka: Dei!!!! enna da... ithukkellaam poi niruththure... naa intha signallai eppovome mathichchadhilliye da...
Me: machaan... athukku naanum niruththaama ponuma da?
Shanka: Dei!!! (getting restless over the wait) enna da nee...


...


I remember watching this movie 'Anniyan' about this time last year with some friends at Egmore ( I don't recall who exactly, but I remember Priya and Marun coming with me ). I've always admired Shankar ( don't get any wrong ideas people... I mean the director here... not shanka ) for packaging movies dealing with sensitive social issues, with glitz and glamour making it reachable to a wide Indian audience. This technique of his, which he has mastered over the years of his stay in the Film Industry, makes his movies more acceptable than those of Mani Ratnam's in the B and C centers. Of course, he alternates his masterpieces with boring, often-nauseating ventures, which has only glitz sans any worthwhile storyline or concept ('Kaadhalan', 'Jeans'... yuck!).

So... why am I writing this piece on Anniyan one whole year after its releasing?... No, this is not a movie review as such. This post deals more with what the movie actually represented and how stark the contrast is the ground reality in India, which is kind of a summing up of my observations of people around me over the past one year set against this movie's underlying theory.

Like all other Shankar movies showcasing problems of the country, this one targets a particular group of our society. Only that this time the group is very very large... 'Indian' showed us how administrators ought to be, 'Muthalvan' showed us how legislature ought to be. 'Anniyan' showed us how common people ought be. Like most of the previous ventures ('Gentleman', 'Indian'...), the solution he offers in this movie too is impractical, unethical and illegal.

The protagonist, Ambi, is a good man amidst filth. He represents that one honest person for every thousand 'normal' people of India. Unhappy incidents during childhood, an outcome of a chain reaction of negligence on the part of a wide range of people belonging to all the strata of the society, bring about his sister's premature death and that instills in him zeal to pursue his responsibilities as a citizen with utmost devotion. This obsession-like adherence to rules shapes him into a honest barrister.

Nevertheless, the complacency and selfishness prevalent in our society injures his mindset and the wounds slowly shape into another personality living inside the same body. This new face is not as merciful as Ambi who believes that even legal action must not contain corporeal punishment. Rather, 'Anniyan' proclaims himself to be the Judgment Maker of the souls and invokes the castigations of Hell, as recorded by Garuda Purana of the Vaishnavite school of thought. Hints of inspiration from the Morgan Freeman starrer 'Seven' are visible here. That thriller was a gory narration of an catholic fanatic who executes people for committing the seven deadly sins proscribed by the Bible. Anniyan is more of a national consciousness affair than any religious propaganda, where the significance of adherence to rules for national development is highlighted. The movie has scenes adopted from many other Hollywood movies and books, as it is usually the case with Shankar. But the Indianization of the episodes is impeccable and that's where Shankar shines. And at the end of the day you need to give it to him- accusing people AND IN THE PROCESS getting their acclaim is no small deal. The movie was a blockbuster.

But are the very people who made it a success actually moved by it, leave alone inspired? The movie cries out the fundamental truth of our society, which we have long taken for granted- we have become experts in accusing the system for all our woes and have forgotten to look into our mistakes. We have been committing mistakes and breaking laws for so many generations that today, we do it involuntarily without any sense of guilt. It is in our genes now.

Last monday, when we were waiting the long wait for IDP at the RTO in mount, Moksham asked me, "What do you think da, The government of Independent India could have done better these 50 years?"
Me: I guess theres something wrong on both sides. We have lost our right to blame them. We expect a lot of things from them but never respect the laws they make.
Sham: But our laws don't make sense
Me: Like?... take for example traffic regulations... how many times do you think you ve stopped before the Stop Line? and how many times have you waited for the waiting countdown to actually go to zero and the appearing of the green signal before starting your vehicle? Don't tell me Traffic rules don't make sense, its almost the same followed in every country
Sham: Well, I see no one watching over us there. Yes, if the maama (policeman) is present I mind the line...
Me: So there it is... you have no regard for the rules as such, you think you have a license to break rules wherever the enforcement is weak.

And isn't it so? Our sense of duty, wherever it is seen, is a mere offspring of the fear of stringent enforcement rather than any actual moral responsibility toward the system of things. The same people would follow the traffic rules with obedience if they were in the US. We follow rules not because our conscience tells us to, but because there are grave consequences of not doing the same. And since most of the petty rule breaking in India goes scot-free, our sense of right and wrong goes for a trip to the moon.

Forerunners of civilization predicted this complacency and thus forged Garuda Puraana like philosophies in every culture and religion known to man to instill in people, fear of breaking rules, which can easily go unnoticed. It is this notion- that there is a place called Hell where every instance of crossing the line is being accounted for and that justice will prevail eventually immaterial of how small or big the crime is- which maintains order and sanity and keeps the fabric of the society from disintegrating.

The Tambaram Sanatorium railway gate is notorious for opening for only short intervals with long waiting times in between. And pedestrians and two-wheeler riders alike have been using this as a reason for walking under the gate whenever it is closed for ages. Since it was built about a year ago, I have been probably the only regular user of the Sanatorium Subway(barring the fruit vendors who use it as godown). Most people prefer jumping over the tractions than taking the pain of walking down the subway. About six months back, after some accidents being reported along the railway crossing, red coloured chains were hung beneath the gate to prevent people from crossing over underneath it. With in a few weeks, the chains were broken down by the people beyond recognition and the authorities gave up. What difference does those few extra seconds of walking down the subway or few extra minutes of waiting for the gate to open make when compared to risking life? Somewhere, sometime, somebody gets killed while crossing and that will cause people to become 'extra' careful for a few days and then everything comes back to 'normal' till some one else gets killed again. Sometimes it pains me to ask myself how many deaths are needed to teach the people the simple procedure of using a manned railway crossing?

The above account of a railway crossing was but just one of the zillions of instances of complacency on our part. It still amazes me how trivial it seems for most to cross the gate or for that matter disregard a traffic signal while these things can make or break life. Immaterial of how well the nation scales in IT enabled services and semiconductors, without the basic etiquettes of existence 2020 is just a utopian dream.

Anniyan is not Tamil Cinema's all time greatest movie. It may not even be Shankar's best. Yet, it was a brave statement. It mirrored our society and cried out our inefficacies. It told us that there is an Ambi in every one of us whom we have forgotten. It also told us that there is an Anniyan out there who hasn't forgotten our mistakes.