Paradesi(2013)

  Part 1            

          Before i write my actual commentary on Paradesi , i think it is important for to see the context or the time period in which this film happens.  So, let me present a quick recap of the time line of India from 1600 AD to 1947 AD. My basic intend is to stress over the fact that rule under British and other European powers resulted in death of over 60 million people due to famines.They were also responsible for the migration of over 1 million Indians as slave laborers to various parts of the world to work in their plantations.

History of India (1600 - 1947)

1600 - East India Company is formed
1605 - Akbar dies.
1613 - Jahangir approves East India Company's trade post in Surat
1627 - Jahangir dies.
1647 - Taj Mahal is complete
1666 - Shah Jahan dies.
1707 - Aurangazeb dies.
1764 - East India Company defeats Mughals.
1857 - First War of Indian Independence
1858 - British Crown takes over the rule of India from East India Company.
1869 - Gandhi is born
1885 - Indian national congress is born
1905 - Partition of Bengal
1919 - Jallianwalla Bagh Massacare
1920 - Non Co-operation movement
1930 - Salt march
1942 - Quit India movement
1947 - Partition of India and Indian Independence
(A better list can be found in Timeline of Indian_history)

Now, I want to add all the famines happened during this time.
Famine History of India (1600 - 1947)
1600   East India Company is formed
1707   Aurangazeb dies.
1764   East India Company defeats Mughals. 
1769   Great Bengal Famine
1782   Mysore Famine
1783   Chalisa famine
1791   Doji bara famine or Skull famine
1837   Agra famine of 1837–38
1857 - First War of Indian Independence
1858 - British Crown takes over the rule of India from East India Company.
1860   Upper Doab famine of 1860–61
1865   Orissa famine of 1866
1868   Rajputana famine of 1869
1869   Gandhi is born
1885   Indian national congress is born
1873   Bihar famine of 1873–74
1876   Southern India famine
1888   Orissa, Bihar Famine
1896   Indian famine(East and South)
1899   Indian famine(West and Centra)
1905   Bombay Famine   
1905   Partition of Bengal
1919   Jallianwalla Bagh Massacare
1920   Non Co-operation movement
1930   Salt march
1942   Quit India movement
1943   Bengal famine
1947   Partition of India and Indian Independence
Approximately 60 Million people died in all these famines.Again, a better list can be found in Major Colonial Famines.

A South Indian family in 1878 by W.W. Hooper

Due to this famines, a lot of people enrolled as Indentured Laborers and were transported to various parts of the world to work in Sugar, Tea, Rubber plantations and in construction work. Here is the modified time line with Indian exodus.

Famine and Migration History of India (1600 - 1947)

1600   East India Company is formed
1707   Aurangazeb dies.
1764   East India Company defeats Mughals. 
1769   Great Bengal Famine
1782   Mysore Famine
1783   Chalisa famine
1786   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Malaysia and Singapore 
1791   Doji bara famine or Skull famine
1825   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Mauritius.
1827   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Srilanka
1835   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Guyana
1837   Agra famine of 1837–38
1839   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Carribean 
1857   First War of Indian Independence
1858   British Crown takes over the rule of India from East India Company.
1860   Upper Doab famine of 1860–61
1860   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in South Africa. 
1865   Orissa famine of 1866
1868   Rajputana famine of 1869
1869   Gandhi is born
1885   Indian national congress is born
1873   Bihar famine of 1873–74
1876   Southern India famine 
1879   First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Fiji.
1888   Orissa, Bihar Famine
1890's  First Indian Slave Laborers arrive in Kenya, Uganda , Zambia
1896   Indian famine(East and South)
1899   Indian famine(West and Centra)
1905   Bombay Famine   
1905   Partition of Bengal
1919   Jallianwalla Bagh Massacare
1920   Non Co-operation movement
1930   Salt march
1942   Quit India movement
1943   Bengal famine
1947   Partition of India and Indian Independence

A total of 1.1 Million moved as slave labors. A better list can be found in this list.More detailed records can be found in UK government's archives.

What is Indentured Laborer?

     Prior to 1833, the east india company did slave trading of Indian labours. However after slavery was abolished in British Empire in 1833, Indians were transported as contracted or indentured laborers. This new system existed till 1920 and it does not take a genius to figure out the contracts were namesake and they were still used as slave laborers. 

Indian Coolies in Trinad

Let me start my commentary on Paradesi with this background in mind.
                                       

 Part 2

About Paradesi 

               First and foremost, one has to definitely appreciate Bala for his efforts to bring out the voices of the people whose voices are not heard.There is no reason why he has to do that but he always goes on to do that. Sethu is about a mentally ill man, nandha is about a juvenile, naan kadavul is about beggars, pithamagan is about an undertaker. These are the people in the bottom of the society. We all stand on top of them, exploiting them and treat them as untouchables. But Bala is determined to make their voices heard. Of-course,that makes his films are raw and look dirty. What do you expect a film about beggars to look like?

               So, this film also talks about the people who are in the bottom of Indian society during British rule. The film is set in a village in Tamilnadu.The village is in famine and there is so much poverty that people see rice only during festivals and marriages.  This is a village of lower caste people and in which lives a guy who is considered to be fit for nothing. We are told about the story his life. He is bullied by everyone in the village and is truly the rock bottom of the civilization. He goes out of village for work but is beaten up for being a lower caste. But determined to save his love, he enrolls himself along with a many others, as a slave labor to a plantation recruiter.

               The film's intention is not to shovel a list of statistics (like what i have given above) or paint us with truth. But it intention is just to make us feel what it means to be oppressed and what it means to feel true helpless in this wonderful infinite universe. Being truly helpless is something most of us have not seen in life. So, film basically moved takes us towards that. As the story progresses, the doors closed one by one for this man. First he realizes that he is cheated. He has to work harder than expected. But he tolerates that ,so that he can save money and leave as soon as his contract his over. After 2 years of working his ass out, he is informed that  his contract is far from over. He is left with disappointment. So, he decides to escape but only to be caught by the guards who break his leg permanently. After a few years, he looses his relatives and friend to a Malaria(?). But he always has one hope left in life which is the hope that he can leave to his village one day and see his son and wife. But finally when he sees that his wife walking into the plantation with his son as a laborer, his last string is pulled and the film ends in true hopelessness. 

               

About its Criticisms

              Why so much of hopelessness? A lot of people are comparing this film to Schindler's List and Pianist. They say Schindler's List ends with a hope. There are two problems with this comparison. First, even though ,holocaust is an extreme tragedy, it is over now and Jews in the modern world are mostly doing good. After the war, Israel is formed and a lot of Nazis were punished in Nuremberg trials. But the agony of the oppressed worker class people of the world is far from over. It happens today for workers in Arab countries. It happens today in china in the hardware manufacturing units. So, it will be an injustice to all these people to end the film hopefully. Replace tea with smart-phones and tea plantation workers to Chinese workers, one can realize that it is still a hopeless situation. Second, this film is attempt to make us realize that. So, it cannot end with hope which is defeating the purpose.

        

             Are we so dark after all? A lot of people have appreciated this film. But there are a good number of negative criticism also. I am not saying the film is beyond criticism. I myself have a few criticisms and it is very important that we should be talking about this film. However, i did read a few reviews which complained about the quality of cinematography, quality of village sets etc. Of all criticisms one can make about this film, there are people complaining about its editing and script nuances? This is like complaining about the someone's teeth while they are screaming in pain. This simply shows how dark people can be.

My Criticism

           First, let me acknowledge that this is awesome film. But it is very very dark and i don't think i can watch it again. It does not mean that film is bad. It simply means that I am not matured enough to process the emotions it invokes.  I sincerely hope one day i will be well balanced to watch this film and talk about it even more rationally.

           However, i do think that there are a few weak points in the film. First, the deliberate atheist message. Bala is an serious atheist and In this film also, he makes a few subtle criticisms on religion. There are three people who share the exploits of the workders a hindu sadhu , a christian compounder and a muslim stock keeper. I can see how Bala wants to stress the exploiting nature of all religious organizations. But what i think is that religion is one thing that still gives hope to a lot of people. Of-course, we see that for a moment in the christian song where, in the end people scream their hearts out and we all can feel how elated they are. But i think the stress is not enough. 

           Second is the black and white description of British in the film. They are simply shown as irresponsible exploiting drunkards. However, it is still not a big problem considering that at the end of day they exploited the workers. But still i think we need to give due credit to a few kind hearted Europeans who have helped us through out.

          But, i want to stress that the above points does not make the film any less valid. I am going to assume that they are just there to make things simpler for the story especially, the depiction of British.Otherwise it would have made the film a far more complex to comprehend.

Part 3

Final Note

          Obviously, Bala has made this film as a response to Eelam situation. And in the context of it ,the film makes perfect sense. The film takes us to the basics and stresses on the importance of lives of ordinary people. 
 
 (This section used to be a little bigger. As a few people in mayyam pointed out its lack of clarity and my dear friend Hari explaining its shortcomings, i removed it .Now,i am undertaking a deeper learning of it and I will be writing a seperate post about it. In the meanwhile, you can refer to this link for better information)