Delving into Gangaajal by director Prakash Jha is always going to be a bitter experience if anybody is as anti-authoritarian as me. How many times have I heard that life for a policeman is one of dishonesty and fradulence. But Gangaajal is a movie based on real life experiences.
It stars Ajay Devgan as SP Amit Kumar who is given charge of Tejpur police station in Bihar. The area is full of corruption, nepotism, bribery, inefficiency and favoritism. Gradually Amit realises the local politician Sadhu Yadav is the beneficiary of all this. In the course of the film, two of Sadhu Yadav's men are blinded with acid by Tejpur police station officers and this method of pouring "gangaajal" becomes a means of vengeance against crime. Sadhu Yadav's son Sunder Yadav is also a monostrous present in the plot, reminding us once again the long hand of criminals in the political system of the sub-continent. The film ends with a poetic justice as the criminals are not left unpunished but what is significant is the ordeal of certain individuals and families in the course of the movie.
One of the victims is Baccha Yadav, a policeman with guts. He falls victim to Sadhu Yadav's vendetta. The other policemen are also harassed time and again. Even Amit Kumar receives punishment for not concurring with the evil intentions of the state minister. Jha makes one cops utter, "Supporting crime is a crime for the police as is uprooting it". The cops of Tejpur police station are simply the victims of Power and politics. Their authority is a sell out. Except for Amit Kumar no body dares to speak against the criminal acts of local politicians. Consequently the cops suffer. There are bad cops who fully sides with Sadhu Yadav, even the commissioner himself.
I was appalled with the clarity of Prakash Jha trying his best to portray the real condition in a police station(with the cops continually swearing "Madurchod" at the goons). Theirs is a stressful work and this is true for the hundreds of police station spread throughout India, Bangladesh and porbably Pakistan and beyond. Well, I am not saying the cops are absolute angels but the way they are seen in our society(jack of all crimes) is completely absurd.
They are only humans and they have to follow orders given from above. And there are policemen like Baccha Yadav and Amit Kumar who stand tall against all odds to fight social injustice. People in the small towns and villages are always suffering in the hands of these criminal local politicians. If policemen stand by them they also become a force to reckon with as the film suggests.
Currently Bangladesh is experiencing an anti-corruption drive by the caretaker government. Dazed and bewildered, we see big guns confessing crimes of humongous proportion. If this is the state of our once revered ministers and mps then one can imagine the sorry state of the police force. The truth is that the police force is directly controlled by the state and often used to commit state sponsored terrorims. So how can we expect policemen like Amit Kumar, Baccha Yadav and their fellow cops Khan, Tiwari and the likes who stood firm against political terrorism.
As the film is based on an actual incident we find solace in believing that honest cops exist even in our society and has the courage like Amit Kumar to disobey orders from DIG Verma. The time is here and now. Don't let ourselves wallow in false comforts and don't let your mind seek comfort in believing we are living in a just and honest society and the corruption exists around us is only committed by the police and henious men like them. Wake up people. Who knows? The most fraudulent might be your near and dear ones who adorn the highest offices of the state and giving obscene orders from the disgraceful thrones they sit in.
No comments:
Post a Comment