Aamir,a film about a man on the run, was released in June 2008. It was one of thoserare films that was praised by critics and liked by viewers. I did not like thefilm. I was in fact very upset and disturbed about it and thought about givingexpression to my angst in writing, but this outpouring of powerful emotionsnever materialised. I would probably have never gotten down to writing thispiece had Delhi6 not arrived on the scene.
I liked Delhi 6, but I was once again on the wrong side, well almost,aside from a handful of insignificant others like me, everyone - including thecritics - was panning the film. This set me thinking about this major disconnectbetween everyone else ranged against ‘the insignificant others including I’.Is it possible that I did not understand cinema or is it that both the popularand elitist perceptions have gone through a tectonic shift without me and theaforementioned handful realising this? I think the frame of reference haschanged and we are still stuck within a world that no one seems to remember,relate to or care about.
It is this feeling of extreme disquiet that has compelled me to revisit Aamirand to put forward my case about not liking it and liking Delhi 6.
To begin with Aamir. As already stated, this is the story of a man on therun. Aamir, a young doctor practicing abroad, returns to Bombay, to spend timewith his mother and siblings, the immigration officer asks him meaninglessquestions, casts aspersions on him, checks his papers again and again,eventually letting him go, albeit, reluctantly. Aamir picks up his stuff andasks the immigration officer, "Would you have treated me thus, had my namebeen Amar?" and walks off.
He steps out, his luggage is snatched, two bike riders zoom in, shove a phone inhis hand, the phone is ringing, they shout "talk" and ride off. The voice onthe phone tells him to follow instructions if he wants his luggage back. Aamiris now made to do a whole range of things: Go to a filthy chawl -- ‘a muslimchawl’ -- walk into the putrid and stinking toilet, is told that is how ‘weare made to live’ and that he has forgotten his roots, forgotten his faith,betrayed his people, etc. etc.
Aamir, blows hot and cold, says he worked hard, went abroad on a scholarship,made choices. He is told that his people have no choices, they are condemned tolive in these chawls in this filth, in poverty. Aamir insists that he wants noneof this. He wants his luggage back and wants to meet his family.
He is directed to a restaurant, ‘a muslim restaurant’, where people aregorging themselves on huge chunks of meat, everyone consumes phenomenalquantities. They eat like animals, he receives a phone call, is directed toanother place, then to another and yet one more place, while criss-crossing theMuslim ghettoes of Bombay, he goes through a meat market -- huge chunks of meathang on both sides of the street. Aamir walks to his next rendezvous: a seedyhotel. He is propositioned on the staircase by a prostitute. Once inside theroom, he is served a huge quantity of food, large chunks of meat, told to eat,rest and wait for instructions. Another phone call, he is told to deliver asuitcase of money at an address to be supplied to him, he is also told that hewould be a free man after he has run this chore, that his luggage will bereturned and he would be able to go back to his family.
He refuses, is made to listen to the cries of his mother and siblings and told:Do as you are asked or you will never see them again. Aamir agrees, sets off, isattacked, brief case is snatched, he wanders bewildered. The prostitute meetshim again, guides him to where his attackers are hiding: He barges in, beats upeverybody, takes his bag back. The phone rings again, he is asked to get into aspecific bus, sometime later he is told to slip the bag under the seat and getoff. He is told you only have two minutes. He gets off the bus.
The viewers and Aamir realise that the snatching was a charade, the suitcase isnow a bomb. The attackers, the prostitute, the bearers, the man on the phone,everybody is part of the network of terror. Something breaks inside Aamir. Herushes in, drags the brief case, rushes out shouting, "Bomb, bomb". People digging a trench jump out and run. Aamir runs to the trench, the briefcase explodes. End of Aamir, end of film. Teary eyed and clapping, the viewersdepart.
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