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Looking at Bollywood's terrific revolutions!
With Anna Hazare's recent revolution against the anti-corruption act Jan Lokpal Bill forcing the government to bow down in pressure, there cannot be a greater proof of how it only takes a single, honest man to bring about political change.
Bollywood, in its own way, has time and again paid a tribute to such revolutions.
We take a look at films which have attempted to overthrow governments and create mass revolutions
A Wednesday
Growing increasingly intolerant of the malaise affecting our society, an unnamed common man takes the law into his own hands and brings the law-enforcement system on the brink of collapse.
Starring Naseeruddin Shah as a man who stands up for those like him, millions of Indians who are just fed up with terrorism and the government's failure in its fight against it, A Wednesday, cinematically, comes closest to exemplify the current people's revolution starring Anna Hazare. How one honest man is enough to make his presence felt in the corridors of corrupt power-dom.
Sivaji
The Boss, as he affectionately calls himself, has his own formula to tackle corruption in the country. He signals those unwilling to share information on black money to the 'office room' and deals with them in his own style.
The mega-hit Rajnikanth starrer is a country within itself in which the superstar is the PM- 'post man', as he comically describes himself in the film. Although Sivaji's violent tactics may be a far cry from the Gandhian pacifist methods of Anna Hazare, one cannot deny that both are fighting for the same cause.
No One Killed Jessica
A true-to-life account of Jessica Lall and her sister's lone fight against the corrupt system, this Rani Mukerji-Vidya Balan starrer brings out the emotions within you- not as an Indian, but as a human being.
Sabrina's struggle echoes the kind of struggle all of us face, in small or big measure, but all of us do. Also a media revolution, especially of how only one journalist (Rani) sees initial potential in the murder case as a 'story' but nevertheless gets entrenched in the movement to get justice for Jessica.
Lage Raho Munnabhai
The Raju Hirani blockbuster teaches us lessons of tolerance, something we forgot nearly the minute we walked out of school and right into the school that life is. Gandhigiri as his new-found weapon, Munnabhai (Sanjay Dutt) locks horns with the wrong-doers by sending them flowers.
And with flowers alone, he creates a mini-revolution of his own, in retrospect mirroring the fate that this wonderful film met with upon its release. It was a revolution Bollywood was in desperate need of.
My Name Is Khan
If anyone questions you for being a Khan, looks at you suspiciously and God forbid, if you happen to be in the post 9/11 America, you have no choice but to stand up for yourself.
SRK's Rizwan Khan decides enough is enough and goes around spreading the message of peace. He insists Islam is not an intolerant religion it is made out to be and so dogged is his struggle to clarify the intentions of his faith that no less than Prez Obama himself acknowledges in the end, 'You are not a terrorist.'
Rang De Basanti
People's power at its best, Rakeysh Mehra's film dubbed 'pop patriotic' does knock you out of your slumber.
It's a wake-up call. A bunch of Delhi students, indulgent and carefree, enact a life-altering play on freedom fighters. Soon, they realise they've become the character in real life, too. To avenge the death of their friend who dies in an air crash, they discover a trail of corruption cases in the defence ministry. Ultimately, they die so that we can live.
Swades
An NRI (played by Shah Rukh Khan), out of touch with India and its problems, works at NASA.
He has the perfect American life until he reaches India to look for his dai ma. In the course of his journey into the heartlands, he encounters illiteracy, poverty and population.
Moved, he decides to do something. In his dai ma's village he mobilises man power to build a hydro-electric plant. It works. It lights up the whole village. A clever metaphor for the day when India will be lit up.
Yuva
One of Mani Ratnam's most under-rated works, Yuva has its heart in the right place.
On one side, the director shows crime thriving, on the other, he depicts student politics of the honest kind. Michael (Ajay Devgn) is a student leader who wants to enter politics so that he can be directly involved in the law-making process.
The end is rather optimistic, with Michael and two of his friends making it to the Parliament. The winds of change will blow thereof, perhaps?
Nayak
Another under-appreciated film (this time, by S Shankar), Nayak examines the deep-rooted problems in Indian society the way a pot-boiler should- heartfelt but on the surface.
Don't expect a brainy solution to the everyday issues of our culture and chances are you might enjoy Nayak. Its protagonist (Anil Kapoor) is a reluctant Chief Minister who, driven by the murder of his parents takes on the corrupt politicians.
Shree 420
The yokel Raj arrives in the big city to earn and eat. He falls in love with Vidya and then gets attracted by the adulterous Maya.
The simpleton takes to gambling and dreams of becoming a businessman. Only when the innocent Raj gets entangled in a fraud scheme to give out homes to the needy that he realises he's a mere pawn in the hands of the high and the mighty. In the end, Raj is hoisted as the mass hero.