Paan Singh Tomar

Actually, the title sounded weird, and I put off watching this movie partly due to its title. But in the light of many positive reccos, bought a VCD (poor man's DVD). And was really impressed. The lingo is a bit strange (some rural dialect of Hindi) and takes a bit of getting used to. But a powerhouse performance by Irrfan Khan, that would thrill his fans, and a taut screenplay makes it well worth a watch. And there is a message in it too. That we usually treat sportsmen badly- particularly our athletes.

There have been many good anti-establishment films made by the likes of Govind Nihalani, Shyam Benegal and so on. Ardh Satya, Aakrosh etc. tackled themes from farmer's problems to corruption and ganglords, and this is another in the category. A bit unusual, like the name of its director, Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Rural India probably has a lot of problems unlike the ones we have (traffic, noise, angst), and this movie makes you aware of some. Sibling rivalry over land is one that is tackled here, without any convincing solution. Like the angry young man who seeks to solve everything by throwing his fists around, the solutions are simplistic. And they may not actually work. Israel-Palestine and Indo-Pak wars are a good example that violence may breed violence endlessly.