A Sanjiv Karambelkar Film. Produced by Manas Communications, Directed by Gaganvihari Borate, Story:Suresh Dwadeshiwar, Written by Arshad Jamal, Music:Pt. Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Lyrics: Gulzar, Vocals: Lata Mangeshkar, Roop Kumar Rathode & Ravindra Sathe.
At the onset of my review, I’d like to confirm that I am not a supporter of violence or terrorism.
Lal Salaam, (Red Salute) is a Naxalite group headed by Rajaiyah. Surprisingly, he is not an uneducated, hot-blooded terrorist. Rather, he speaks perfect English, admires honesty & is the Robin Hood for the villagers; protecting them against the corrupt system. He hates government officials who exploit the innocent illiterate villagers & tries to teach them to stand for their rights. He does not harm the villagers & does not spare corrupt government employees; be it a contractor or a postman.
The movie opens with a scene depicting Khandoli, a small tribal village in the dense jungles, immersed in gaity & happiness of their annual celebration where youngsters choose their life partners. The residents are simple, illiterate folks who will do anything to get a few bucks. Where the forests are not permitted to be cut, they are made to labour on a daily basis & chop down bamboo, collect tendu leaves under the watchful eyes of the cruel & corrupt Forest Ranger.
Sometimes, they are forced to put their finger impression on the attendence register & not paid their wages & at other times, they are paid a measly Rs. 5 instead of the usual daily wages of Rs. 30. When one of them, Ghishu retaliates & insists on being paid, he is brutally whipped & then humiliated by the Forest Ranger who urinates on his face. His pride hurt, he injures the Ranger & flees to the heart of the jungle where he is picked by Rajaiyah’s men.
Ghishu’s brother, Kanna (Sharad Kapoor) wants to become a doctor. He gets admission in Medical College, Nagpur & ocasionally returns to his village where he loves a girl, Roopi(Nandita Das). She wants to accompany him to the city & dreams of becoming his bride. He wants her to learn to read & write. He does not support the ’Lal Salaam’ & always tells Ghisu to stay away from them as they are the nation’s enemies. He believes in fighting the corrupt system in a lawful manner. After his education, he returns to the village & starts his practise there while at the same time, telling the villagers not to support the Naxalites.
Roopi is a very sweet, innocent village girl, deeply in love with Kanna. She believes everything he says & stays away from the police. But she is victimized by the Inspector who pretends to sympathize & help her & the villagers. After that, she disappears....
What becomes of her & Ghisu? What does Kanna do about it? What happens to the Naxalites? Do the police keep getting more & more corrupt? A Special Task Force is sent to wipe out the Naxalites. Do they succeed in their mission? Do the villages get justice & redemption? That’s the base of the story. All the artistes have done a very good, natural job & completely justified their characters. I do not remember the names of the actors & actresses except a few who I already mentioned.
Rajpal Yadav has done a wonderful job as usual as Dattu, a simple villager who is blackmailed into sending his wife who he adores, to the Inspector else his father’s grave will be dug up. I think it’s a must see for everyone, at least once, even though it is devoid of any kind of glamour.
The movie is based on certain facts which take place in the remotest of tribal villages. I was told that its the story of a village about 400 kms from where I live. I do not know that for a fact, but yes, I do know how villagers are badly exploited by the Government & businessmen. They are made to chop down trees, collect tendu leaves & even unpolished diamonds(pls don’t disbelieve this), paid a measly Rs.5 or Rs. 10 per kg or per day & sometimes not even paid. Later, the collected booty is sold in the city for a minimum of Rs. 150 per kg & guess how much in case of diamonds?!
There is nothing anyone can actually do about it cos the villagers who are simple tribals consider this to be their fate & they know if they retaliate, they will either be killed or else left to die of hunger. The police consider it their birth right to eye any young girl there & blackmail them to give in willingly or else pay up Rs. 10000/-. The entire village will not have that much of money at any given time. So....
One dialogue between Rajaiyah & Kanna, both fighting for the same cause but in different manner, really impresses & gives U something to think about, by the people in general & by the Government in particular. I am putting it down in English due to lack of space & for the convenience of all readers. It goes thus:
R: Kanna, for whom do we leave our homes, families, safe & sheltered life to fight in the jungles hungry & thirsty? What personal benefit will we get?....Who will recieve the freedom & right? Isn’t it for out tribal brethren? Then, why are U not with us?
K:Yes, we will fight. Whatever problems we face, we will fight with the government in a lawful manner. This fight is not with any outsider. It is an internal battle of our country & to fight in Ur own homes, guns are not required. What is necessary is to find a solution to the problems, to contemplate on it.
R: Contemplate? Who will do that? Uneducated, illiterate villagers? He, who doesn’t know to talk properly will contemplate? Enough! 50 yrs is sufficient for contemplation. It’s done! A normal person’s whole life is wasted in thinking here. Bloody 1 whole life! Now there will be no more contemplation. Now we have to arrive at the consequences. & the last resort is this- Opposition! Revolution!
K: Revolution! Revolution! Revolution! What is the outcome of Ur revolution? If this bullet had hit U a bit here or there, U would be dead.
R: If U fear the outcome, how will U get Ur rights?
K: In a democracy, if U demand Ur rights by lifting arms, U will be called a traitor. The bullets of government will silence Ur voice in the jungle someday.
R: Possible! But the day this voice resounds in the entire nation, it will uproot the entire system & even U know this revolution has changed the government in the past.
K: U speak of changing government. What is Ur power before them? A few guns? Handful of men?
R: A few guns & handful of men is just the onset, the beginning. In the future, this gun will be held by every hand, the entire society will be with us.
K: U are showing a very scary nightmare to the coming generation. The end will be nothing but bloodshed & ruin. It will not yield any fruit.
R: That’s Ur opinion.
K: Yes, it’s my opinion. The path of violence is not correct. The gun will never bring any happiness.
R: Then let us agree to disagree. Tum apni soch ke saath jeeyo, hum apni.
(Then let us agree to disagree. U live with Ur opinion, & we, ours)
....& the battle continues....
(& my review continued in comment section....)