Review by Vinoo
Language : English
Director : Deepa Bhatia
‘Nero’s Guests’ is a must watch simply because it is about you and I, all of us really. It sure makes us ask if we have been / are guilty of being Nero’s guests. With P Sainath right through the film you have no choice but to listen. The film covers P Sainath’s visit through the villages for his research on the Agrarian crisis. The film focuses primarily on farmer suicides and the ever-increasing disparity between the rich and the poor. It is about over 2 lakh farmer suicides in the last 14 years, and what makes them take that extreme step. You can get a loan for a Mercedez Benz at 6% interest, no collateral required, while a farmer kills himself because he is unable to get eight thousand rupees at a decent rate of interest. It is ironic a country that is supposedly among the fast developing rates pretty high on the World Hunger scale. Some of the so-called ‘poor, under-developed’ countries are much better off than us. This film is about the India we don’t want to see, don’t want to acknowledge exists, want to write off as fiction because we have gone blind and we have been fed by a media that is catering to the super-rich, the cream that we want to believe represents India on the world stage. This film is about the people that our Government refuses to believe exists.
‘Concern’, ‘Maraa’ and ‘Vikalp’ did well to bring down P Sainath for the discussion post-screening. Made the screening worth it. Hats off to P Sainath for exposing Ratan Tata, and at the ‘Tata / Indian Institute of Science’. Him quoting Ratan Tata call India a ‘Banana Republic’ for making his conversations with Niira Radia public. Tapes, which reveal to what extend our country, our politicians have sold out. A Corporate decides not just who will be a Minister but also what portfolio he will hold. And, a whole session in Parliament dedicated to who, among the two Ambani brothers, will get the KG basin project, while not even half a session dedicated to Agriculture. Read on.
Actually, one discussion was indeed held at P Sainath’s insistence and I gather Kalavati’s good friend was blissfully asleep during the session. I wouldn’t be surprised but need to reconfirm this info though.
‘The hidden persuaders’, read ‘Media’ has clouded what you and I know, what you and I believe. What I liked is that almost the entire data that P Sainath quoted from is available in the public domain. It is a shame we, sorry I, know so little. I didn’t know, for instance, that the Tata Nano was the world’s most subsidized car with over 39,000 crores in subsidies. Sigh! Guess our Government is going with Rahul Bajaj’s comment on ‘The Government should help the rich help the poor’. The ridiculous subsidies and waiver for Corporates year after year while subsidies for Agriculture and Farming keep getting slashed. As we speak the Government has allowed 100% FDI in the Agriculture sector. I sure hope to access data available on the net and definitely will access information about the plight of farmers from All India Kisan Sabha. I do subscribe to ‘The Hindu’ and buy a copy of ‘Frontline’ now and then. I should start subscribing to ‘Economic and Political Weekly’ as well.
Also watched ‘Black Swan’. Disappointing, apart from Natalie Portman. I don’t think I quite got over her in ‘Leon’. I know people will chew me for saying this but the storyline is pretty similar to Madhur Bhandarkar’s ‘Fashion’ . ‘Fighter’ has a simple storyline and Cristian Bale just walks away with it. For someone, like me, who doesn’t like Boxing, rooting for a boxer is something. That sure is the Director’s achievement. I am yet to watch ‘The King’s Speech’. ‘True Grit’ I’d rather let the old one stay. I am not a great fan of the Oscar’s though and am in no hurry to watch these.
Useless trivia : Deepa Bhatia has edited films like ‘Thakshak’, ‘Dev’, ‘Hazaar chaurasi ki maa’, ‘Taare zameen par’, ‘Maine Gandhi ko nahin maara’, ‘Rock on’ and yeah ‘My name is Khan’ and ‘We are family’ too.
‘Nero’s Guests’ is Deepa Bhatia’s directorial debut. Watch the film here :
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You could buy a copy of the DVD here.
P Sainath is the rural affairs editor of ‘The Hindu’. One of those things I pick up the newspaper for. He is a student of JNU, Delhi and has been an activist campaigning for the SFI. He has been writing on host of issues like ‘news’ has become ‘entertainment’, ‘the increasing divide between the rich and poor’, ‘farmer suicides’, ‘agriculture subsidies’, ‘the sellout of our media’, etc. For all his articles, save forty, visit this and of course read ‘The Hindu’.
His ‘Everybody loves a good drought’ is a must read. I sure would like to revisit it and write a book review.
Amartya Sen has called P Sainath ‘one of the world’s great experts on famine and hunger’. K A Abbas says “Sainath is incorrigible, irreverent, indefatigable and, at times, infuriating. To this I shall add one more word: incorruptible. Friends I introduce you to the most irreverent voice in Indian journalism. I bring to you the man who will go through life being the boy who said, ‘The Emperor has no clothes’….. I do not know another journalist who cuts to the heart of a matter, past all hypocrisy and camouflage, so clearly and with such humour. I do not know another journalist who can make compassion so compelling.” Courtesy : Wikipedia.
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