Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Simplistic and unrealistic ...

Leader is a bad movie. Period. If you want to read why I think it is bad, please proceed further. If you don't agree with my view, or if you think this is a "honest" film or you are a die hard Shekar Kammula fan, please don't bother reading this any further.

To put it in plain and simple terms, the post of CM was made a mockery in this movie. Right from the scene where the hero "appoints" a small time guy who bribed his father with 10 crores ( and what's with the false emotion of this character .. he looks poor and says he collected that 10 crores by sweating it out - please give us a break!) as his secretary, the only way the movie was going was downhill. In this movie, a reporter can get to sneak into the office of the hero while he is talking to his "assistant" about his plan to become CM... and then offers the hero not to break the news only if he agrees to marry her after becoming CM!

After throwing around a lot of money and buying the legislators, the hero becomes the CM only to be faced with the issue of appointing his nemesis as the Home Minister. Guess what, the Home Minister arranges for the killing of the hero (who is now the CM) just a day into his term! Bullets are fired at the CM, and the screen shows "interval" as the CM collapses. Within 10 days of an incumbent CM purpotedly killed by Naxalites, there is an attempt to kill the new CM by none other than the Home Minister of the state! If you think it can't get any more bizzare, wait for the second half. You will just be bowled over.

There is a bomb blast in the city, the CM visits it immediately (breaking his romantic conversation with his girl friend), and while going back says sorry to the GF for not informing her before leaving! And then decides to propose to her the very next day. Really Sekhar? This is the kind of committment you wanted to show in a future "leader"? Accepted that the hero was trying to marry the heroine so as to get the support of her father, but just after a bomb blast? Really Sekhar? And even the meeting with the Home Minister later is shown is such poor light.

The entire movie does NOT show one single cabinet meeting. The CM only has the chief secretary, the chief security officer and this assistant guy in all meetings. Why will the CSO be involved in politcal manuevering too?? It just beats me. There are only two assembly scenes, and both involve the CM introducing just one bill. It is practically impossible that any CM in any state will have such a simple agenda.

The CM never goes into town and meets people. His travel plans are awry. And how can any leader have a single point agenda? This CM's single point agenda is to recover all the black money in the state. He wants to raise Rs. 1 lakh crore and then spend the same for the welfare of the people. Until then, there is no policy, there is no meeting with people, there is no other agenda in the assembly too. Is this something that is really possible? And is this something that people really want? Just weed out corruption and everything can wait? Really Sekhar?

The resignation scene of the CM is so funny that one could easily roll on the floor laughing. An entire election is just covered in one song, and the media is shown as going gaga over this. Accepted that it is difficult to cover such a subject in under 3 hours, but there are just so many non sensical scenes in this movie, that if we had really well researched sensible scenes instead of them, it just would have made more sense.

My entire complaint against this movie would have been invalid if someone like K. Raghavendra Rao or E.V.V. Satyanarayana made this film! Coming from Sekhar Kammula, and us being constantly reminded that this movie wants us to show how a "leader" should be, such blatant disregard for basic research is simply appalling. This movie is totally misleading the viewers in its wrongful potrayal of the entire political class and the comic potrayal of the post of the CM. It is utterly simplistic and totally unrealistic.

The likes of Sekhar Kammula have set a nice trend of making meaningful/entertaining movies. Making such movies which mislead the young people today is not what is expected from him.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me start by saying that I don't care for your review.

To begin with you have given out the entire story without a spoiler alert.

The movie is not trying to showcase the CM post but the deep rooted corruption which exists in our political system.

For me, this is a good movie. Watch it without 'totally unrealistic' expectation and 'utterly simplistic' analysis and you will enjoy it.

- Madhu

Unknown said...

movie is a good one. the 2nd half was little draged. the main point he wanted to show was one person cannot change the system with already existing people in it. every thing should go from the scrach. what sudhir said may be right technically, but as movie and to common people, its a perfect one.

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