Inquilaab (1984)

From 1984, directed by Rama Rao Tatineni, I present to you Inquilaab, a movie that doesn’t receive nearly enough attention as it deserves. It stars Amitabh Bachchan as A.C.P. Amar Nath, Sridevi as Asha, with Kader Khan and Utpal Dutt as the despicable team of villains.

This review might be slightly different from the other reviews I have because it is a movie that inspires much of my political thoughts to emerge, and my personal life somehow becomes connected to the story of Amar Nath. Perhaps this review will be similar to the review I wrote for Deewar (in case you're curious, here's the Deewar review http://watcheverybachchanmovie2012.blogspot.com/2012/07/deewar-1975.html) 

Let’s discuss the movie itself first, before we get into why it has become so special and so thought provoking for me, a movie that is only second to Deewar in the hundreds of times I've watched it.

Inquilaab is the story of a young man who sells bhelpuri outside a theatre even though he has his MA, among other educational accomplishments under his belt. He is taken under the wing of a politician (the incessant Kader Khan) who is seemingly the only man in the country who is concerned about the state of the poor, his party’s name, in fact, is “poor people’s party”. Fate, destiny and bad luck gang up together and trap Amar Nath, who becomes a police inspector, having married Asha, the daughter of villain number two played by Mr. Dutt, cohorts with Kader Khan. The movie twists and turns and leaves the audience feeling utterly drained by the end.

It is another of Mr. Bachchan’s movies that leaves the audience with a great sense of understanding, a great sense of responsibility to the world as far as paying better attention to politicians, pay better attention to the state of the country but the greatest lesson of these is that the road to doing the right thing is never, ever easy. 

But doing the right thing wouldn't be worth doing if it was easy.

The movie is very well made, with a cast that leaves even the most critical me happy, with entertaining music and sequences that, as I said, leave you drained from the emotions that you are forced to face as you watch this spectacular movie. From playful songs and scenes between Asha and Amar, to a nightmare sequence that will definitely leave the audience with the chills. There is a particularly touching scene with a pregnant Asha and Amar, talking about their unborn baby, very sweet.

You will notice that Mr. Bachchan’s hand is kept discretely out of sight, because the movie, along with Sharaabi, was shot shortly after (or during) a Diwali accident that Mr. Bachchan met with. One thing about this movie that always leaves a rock in my gut is what looks to be a tracheotomy scar at the base of our Shahenshah’s throat, a result of the Coolie accident.

Another very interesting aspect of this movie is that during its release, Mr. Bachchan had involved himself with politics in real life. Whether this movie is a reflection of what he experienced an MP or not, I cannot say but from what I have been able to deduce, it is a pretty accurate description and depiction of the corruption that infests politics.

Now let’s get to the reason why I have seen this movie almost as many times as I’ve watched Deewar, and I’ve seen Deewar a lot.

The state of the United States of America is one of great economic confusion with a job market that has no sympathy in its heart for those without experienced, and particularly for those without connections; two things I lack. A look into my personal life will demonstrate for you the string of bad luck that I have been carrying around for the past few years, the economic recession that affected my country so horrendously in 2008 has left its marks on me. A full time university student, I was laid off from four different jobs, consecutively.

You can understand my frustration at being unemployed, and highly educated. I now hold a BA, honors from a Phi Alpha Theta (an honor society that recognized me for good scholarship), with a GPA you dream about and can boast that I have survived the law school entrance exam that scares the daylights out of anyone who has even glimpsed it.

So you can now see why I love this movie, if you have seen it, will see there are many interesting similarities between Amitabh Bachchan’s Amar Nath before he becomes a D.C.P., and myself. The frustration Amar feels I can understand, and I have seen the same rage on my own face when connections become a bigger factor in employment than your experience, knowledge or qualifications.

There is a scene in the beginning where Amar, frustrated when he is rejected for the job he is qualified for but is overlooked in favor of the manager’s relative, yells in perfect English “I am a post-graduate, but I have to stand outside the cinema hall and cell bhelpuri, d’you know why? Because I don’t want to die. You can take this application form and stuff it!” After a particularly bad experience with a potential job, I truly felt like reenacting that scene to the manager I had been speaking with.

No, I am not starving like Amar. Nor am I without a home, nor am I in danger of eviction or about to succumb to the terrors of poverty. My anger at the state of unemployment, the frustration that is reflected in Amar, comes from the knowledge that you have the qualifications, the experience, and the degree for a particular job but because you lack connections, you cannot achieve anything.

Without connections, no matter how perfect you are for a certain job, it is out of your reach. This atrocious fact is what always breaks my back, as it were. I have spent hours staring at the massive piles of books and homework and countless essays, wondering if this degree I am killing myself for will be able to replace all those connections I lack.

But as I think more about this movie, about the second half where Amar becomes trapped by his father in law and the man he had trusted, I see that the movie even shows that having connections isn’t always a good thing. Connections often lead to favors, and the back and forth that is a natural part of having connections and doing favors, is dangerous. The more I think about this aspect of the movie, the clearer it becomes that connections are not as desirable as it would seem. Yes, your father in law could be best friends with the state minister, but what if your father in law begins using whatever position you have to manipulate it in a way that would gain him power and destroy you?

So then, in this world, what are we to do? How do we move forward? Is the world so corrupt that we are all trapped in an existence that is a continuous cycle of disappointment or fraud or corruption? Or do I simply have on blinders as a bitter, unemployed yet educated young lady living in the States? 

Do I have the strength that Amar displays, to stay on the right path, no matter the cost?

ANYWAY!

This movie is truly amazing, it will leave you scratching your head and evaluating everything as it has forced me to, countless times!

Inquilaab zindabad!

-Ish