Udta Punjab (not a review)

UDTA PUNJAB

This is not a review. For that we have film critics, both self styled and certified, to tell us the merits and the demerits of the story, performances, direction and all the other technicalities that go into the making of a film. This is a heartfelt, emotional understanding of why this film touched the core of my heart and prompted me to write on it. 

Right from the time the film was announced I was waiting for its release. Reasons - I adore Shahid Kapoor, who I believe is a storehouse of talent much of which is still untapped, I have liked all of director Abhishek Chaubey previous movies, and because Anuraag Kashyap is a maverick whose work intrigues me. But these were reasons of an ardent Hindi movie buff - someone who can sit through all kinds of Hindi cinema (barring a few exceptions, of course! )

That I was going to watch the film was a given but that I would get so disturbed by it was unexpected. Well, not really unexpected because when you have been closely involved with someone who has wasted his life on drugs of every variety and composition, you are kind of prepared to see some of it on screen without cringing. My real sense of disturbance came from the fact that I spent almost a month and a half in three cities of Punjab recently and what I saw there and read about in the newspapers was horrifying to say the least. The malaise is deeply entrenched and if your are careful to notice there are signs of it everywhere. Watching the movie was like scratching a fresh scab, which you know is going to hurt but which you can't avoid scratching. Much like Addiction.

Some observations (culled from TV news, local newspapers and what I saw around me):

In my line of work I had to meet a lot of young people daily and there were many instances where I could tell that the person sitting opposite me was stoned.

There are daily deaths by overdose - sometimes in the fields and often in fancy cars and homes.

De-addiction centers, like the one below, are not hidden in some godforsaken places. They are very much part of the city's landscape. It is another matter that  not far from the centers stand the peddlers ready to lure the addict back to his misery. 

Medicines or controlled drugs that are used to treat the addicts are often misused.

There are innumerable doctors and physicians fighting their collective and lone battles, though none as pretty as the de-glamorized Kareena Kapoor, whose lives get totally entwined in the lives of the addicts they treat. They have to stay unemotional and treat patients not only physically but also psychologically. Sometimes the patients get attached to them emotionally and can become dangerous when asked to maintain professional distance.

The police raids and seizes contraband drugs, mainly heroin, everyday in some part of the state. But the flow doesn't stop. 

A large number of women are addicts - but unfortunately a very small number of women go for de-addiction. Addicts generally force their girl friends or wives (sometimes even sisters) into substance abuse but once they are into it they don't receive much help from the families so far as treatment is concerned.

Does UDTA PUNJAB deal with all this?  Oh yes - it does and in full measure. Anyone who believes he is going to watch fiction should not see this film at all. Cinema is supposed to be larger than life but there is nothing larger than life here - it is stark reality on an as is where is basis. The movie shows you all levels of society from a rock star Tommy Singh, to a middle class student Balli right down to the rural masses finding the easy way out to euphoria. The only part which is difficult to digest is the lead actor's quick transformation from a coke snorting brat to a reformed, do-gooder on a mission but given that the movie was running four tracks simultaneously this can be overlooked. 

Movies are a reflection of society because stories come from those living in society. However, movies are not reformers - societies are. UDTA PUNJAB may not be a perfect film but it is a telling commentary on what is plaguing Punjab right now. Since there are no band-aid solutions for this humongous problem let's at least look at this film as a wake-up call to not let Punjab become another Mexico. 

Kiran