e-Paper (http://epaper.deccanchronicle.com/states.aspx) |Sunday Chronicle (/sunday-chronicle)
Auto Refresh
| Corporate Insolvency
Resolution Process (/corporate-
insolvency-resolution-process)
(/)
Thursday, Jul 07, 2022 | Last Update :
12:19 PM IST
(/) Entertainment (/entertainment) Movie Reviews (/entertainment/movie-review) 05
Nov 2021 (/entertainment/movie-review/051121) Jai Bhim: Protecting ...
ENTERTAINMENT (/ENTERTAINMENT), MOVIE REVIEWS
(/ENTERTAINMENT/MOVIE-REVIEW)
C RAJ KUMAR (/COLUMNIST/C-RAJ-KUMAR-1)
C Raj Kumar is the founding Vice-Chancellor of
O P Jindal Global University
(/columnist/c-
raj-kumar-
1)
Jai Bhim: Protecting rights and
providing hope in India’s
democracy
Published Nov 5, 2021, 10:59 am IST
Updated Nov 5, 2021, 10:59 am IST
1 177 1
Listen Chat
The protagonist in Jai Bhim is “Justice” itself and the director, Tha Se Gnanavel and the lead
actor, Suriya throughout the films share with us the trials and tribulations of seeking justice.
(Image: @PrimeVideoIN)
Stephanie Thomson, an editor at the World Economic Forum,
Davos, in an article entitled “10 movies that changed the
world”, had said: “A good film does more than entertain or fill
seats at the cinema. It has the power to change hearts and
minds – and sometimes society more widely.”
Jai Bhim is an extraordinary film that grips the society’s
attention, shakes the human conscience and shackles the
faith and hope that we have in democracy, democratic
institutions and indeed, the rule of law. As we celebrate
India’s 75 years of independence, Jai Bhim shows a mirror on
our society. It pushes the boundaries of film making and
connecting it, not just to stark reality, but helps us to work
towards seeking social and institutional transformation for
protecting the human rights of the most vulnerable.
Ordinarily, films are a compelling source and medium of
entertainment, but there are rare occasions, when a film
transcends the boundaries of entertainment and enters into
a more difficult world of seeking empowerment,
emancipation and enlightenment. Jai Bhim, beautifully and
successfully does this with honesty, integrity and humility in
storytelling, acting and directing.
The story of Jai Bhim is about the lives of some of the most
marginalised sections of the society. Even after 75 years of
Indian democracy, their struggles to fight for basic human
rights and human dignity continue unabated. The protagonist
of the film, in my view, is not the family of Senggeni or
Rajakannu or any of the other victims of custodial violence.
The protagonist is also not Suriya, a thoroughly gifted actor,
whose assumption of the role of Chandru, a public interest
and human rights lawyer was truly exemplary. Few people
could have done what Suriya did in pursuing this role with a
lot of nuance, subtlety, and style.
The protagonist in Jai Bhim is “Justice” itself and the director,
Tha Se Gnanavel and the lead actor, Suriya throughout the
films share with us the trials and tribulations of seeking
justice.
Jai Bhim is a film that epitomizes the evolution of Indian
democracy and its continuing struggles to ensure equality,
non-discrimination, protection of human rights, adherence to
the rule of law, accountability of power holders, and most
importantly, the challenges of seeking justice to the poor,
marginalized and vulnerable victims. The film has
persuasively dealt with three substantive issues that affect
Indian democracy as we celebrate 75 years of democratic
governance in India.
Caste Based Discrimination
One of the most difficult issues to be discussed in India in any
forum is the challenge of caste. It is all-pervasive, omni-
present and yet everybody is uncomfortable to talk about its
institutionalized, discriminatory, and brutal impact on the
society at large. Jai Bhim is a bold movie written, directed, and
acted with courage of conviction that brings the issue of caste
front and centre to the narrative, dialogue, and design of the
film. It is powerful and yet subtle in terms of showcasing the
deeply embedded caste-based discrimination in our society
and how it has acquired the status of a Frankenstein’s
monster. Jai Bhim has persuasively shown us that we have a
long way to go in fulfilling Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s vision and the
promise that we made in the Constitution of India: “Article 17.
Abolition of Untouchability: Untouchability is abolished and
its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any
disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an offence
punishable in accordance with law.”
Police Brutality and Custodial Violence
Jai Bhim is a movie that touches every nerve of human
conscience. It challenges our fundamental assumptions of
Indian democracy and the promise to establish a society
based on the rule of law. It is a fact that wide-spread torture
happens in custodial institutions in India. In an official reply
to a question in Lok Sabha, the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India said that as many as 348 people died
and 1,189 were tortured in police custody in 2018-19 and
2020-21. This data will be significantly more in reality as not
all instances of torture and custodial violence gets reported.
But even this data should shock our conscience. The brutality
that was meted out to the three individuals who were illegally
taken into custody by the police in the film does demonstrate
the larger problem of policing in India. But it has also
demonstrated the wide gap between the rhetoric of law and
its reality. There are numerous judgments of the Supreme
Court of India, which were violated in letter and spirit in
relation to the arrest, detention, interrogation, investigation,
and all related processes of the characters in the film. Jai
Bhim, as a film went beyond the contours of creative
imagination and brought us close to the ugly realities of the
internal workings of the criminal justice system. It neither
hesitated to show the dysfunctional nature of the criminal
justice process nor did it exaggerate the systemic weaknesses
and failures. It is the genius of the film directing and acting
that the story struck a perfect balance and left the audience
deeply shaken and moved and yet reflecting and hoping for
seeking that elusive justice.
Role and Responsibility of Police, Lawyers and Judges
Jai Bhim, while keeping a tight narrative of the protagonist,
“Justice” itself on trial was constantly struggling to keep hope
alive but was sincere in showing the brutal realties of policing.
Every actor of the criminal justice system, right from the
constable, sub-inspector, Inspector of Police and all the way
to the highest echelons of police had demonstrated impunity,
indifference, and irresponsibility to the need for protecting
rights and providing justice to the victim.
Democracy is based upon the faith that ordinary people have
in its institutions. Law, police, and judiciary are institutions
that bind our democratic vision and instill this trust among
the ordinary people. Jai Bhim ensured that the faith and trust
that people ought to have in democratic institutions is not
broken – be it the IG of Police who wrote an independent
report on the death in custody of Rajakannu or for that that
matter the distinguished judges of the judiciary who were not
persuaded by the Advocate General’s argument but was
ready to give a long rope to listen to the public interest
lawyer, Chandru’s arguments. These are significant acts of
courage, hope and justice that will protect the faith that
ordinary people have in the functioning of our democratic
institutions. Whether it is Rajakannus of India or George
Floyds of the world, we need to believe in the words of Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr when he observed, “The arc of the
moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”
Jai Bhim is a classic among the genre of movies in India. It
ought to be selected as India’s entry for the Oscars. The film
has captured the public imagination in more ways than many
would have thought and hopefully, has persuaded people in
power to generate reform ideas that can change lives. Jai
Bhim also recognized the important role of lawyers and
judges in upholding justice as the institutions of justice are
the last bastion of hope between victims of crime and abuse
of power believing in the rule of law to seek justice as
opposed to resorting to violence and challenging our
institutions while undermining the existing legal and
constitutional order.
Jai Bhim, I believe should be watched by every law student,
lawyer, police officer, judge, MLA, MP, and people who
exercise public powers, besides other members of the society
at large as the movie awakens the human conscience and the
inherent sense of justice that is deeply embedded in
humanity. The protagonist of the movie, “Justice”, at last wins
the struggle, but these struggles to seek justice will have to
continue. Jai Bhim has done justice to what one of India’s
greatest film makers, Satyajit Ray, had observed: “…Somehow
I feel that an ordinary person–the man in the street if you like
– is a more challenging subject for exploration than people in
the heroic mold. It is the half shades, the hardly audible notes
that I want to capture and explore.”
...
Tags: actor surya (/content/tags/actor-surya), jai bhim movie
(/content/tags/jai-bhim-movie)
Location: India (/location/india), Tamil Nadu
(/location/india/tamil-nadu), Chennai (Madras)
(/location/india/tamil-nadu/chennai-madras)
