By Prakash Alagarsamy
I recently watched the movie “Vikram”. The movie was good. Definitely could have been better. I loved talking about it with my family members about it. Don’t know the last time a mass movie did that. So definitely a win in that aspect. But u digress. This post is about something that has been bothering me for sometime. And this post is me getting it out of my system
Why do we need our heroes to be larger than life? They have to be invincible. Nothing fazes them. And we love that. Why?
Because deep down we know only superheroes can be true to their beliefs. The corruption and decay in our society is so deep, one has to be a superhero to just be even honest. Forget change. Just existing honestly, just doing the right thing demands so much strength from us, strength that we don’t have. We rationalise everyday, compromise on our beliefs everyday to survive. In our everyday life we come across corrupt people. We should complained or do something. But we don’t because- we are scared. Our rationalisations are ” I have no proof, nobody would back me up”. But we are all complicit now. I nowadays think “can I complain about corrupt officials and politicians when I don’t act even against clerks and low officials”. Because we all are scared. Of our career, judiciary, authority and most importantly of our lives.
I beleive this feeling of helplessness drives our society’s fascination to our heroes. They can’t be simple guys who beat the bad guys. Because we know it’s impossible. Making them beat up 50 goons is the only believable way that truth wins.
It’s true that so many people fight for these kind of ideals. They are the bravest and greatest souls. We need more people like them. It makes me sad I am not one of them.
In Vikram, Fahad inspite of all the resources and power had to become a rogue to get justice. Our heroes need to be orphans and lone wolves to fight against evil.
For once I would like to see a movie about a normal guy who wins in a normal way. Just to atleast celebrate the brave souls fighting to make a change in this world. To see the pain and suffering, the pursuit of truth brings. Maybe some of us gain the courage to do the right thing.
Baradwaj Rangan 
Madan
June 10, 2022
As I just finished watching Dropout yesterday (having read Bad Blood, watched the ABC videos as well as Inventor), I have to say that Tyler Schultz and Erika Cheung are real life heroes and bravely resisted at great personality cost the efforts of Theranos’ dirty tricks department and helped Jon Carreyrou, himself a brace investigative journalist, expose them.
So I agree that we need more films about real life heroes. We did have one recently, Jai Bhim. I remember No One Killed Jessica from back in the day.
I wonder why these films are always mid budget or small and why is it still not possible, both here and in the US, to make such films tentpoles? The closest to a tentpole film about a little guy crusader against the system in Hollywood would probably be Erin Brokovich where the star wattage of Julia Roberts, whose presence was deeply scorned by some critics, helped the film become a bigger animal than it may have been. But it’s still one film and there are a handful of similar ones like Pelican Brief or Civil Action. But they don’t really bother the box office in the same way as a Schwarzenegger muscle flexer and, being cynical, I would ask if that many people even found stories like Brokovich or Schultz inspiring at all.
Reminds me of Bill Burr viciously mocking a Philadelphia crowd over the fact that city had a statue of Rocky rather than a real life achiever (of which, the city has produced many albeit mostly black which might be why a statue for a fictional character was preferred instead).
LikeLike
Madan
June 10, 2022
To be clear, I meant sporting achievers from Philadelphia. Burr laughed at the idea that Rocky was more deserving of a statue than Joe Frazier.
LikeLike
Prakash Alagarsamy
June 10, 2022
There are many real life heroes apart from sports. We hear about many journalists/citizens killed by mafia. That’s the thing. The good guy wins less and less. Sad state of affairs
LikeLiked by 1 person
Macaulay Perapulla
June 10, 2022
“In Vikram, Fahad inspite of all the resources and power had to become a rogue to get justice. Our heroes need to be orphans and lone wolves to fight against evil.
For once I would like to see a movie about a normal guy who wins in a normal way. Just to atleast celebrate the brave souls fighting to make a change in this world. To see the pain and suffering, the pursuit of truth brings. Maybe some of us gain the courage to do the right thing.”
My experience of the world has been, shall we say, different? n my line of work, I get to meet so many ‘everyday heroes’ who live normal lives and make extraordinary changes. For instance, take this Kerala doctor couple who live in a tribal village called Sittlingi. https://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/food/two-health-professionals-from-kerala-have-been-empowering-a-tribal-community-in-tamil-nadu/article32390625.ece
I met them when I travelled to that village. These are Gandhian doctors who set up a hospital in a complete end-of-the-world tribal village and what they have accomplished over the last twenty-five years is fascinating. Of course, such ordinary stories are very difficult to narrate with grit and glory. Heroes are the same. We want stories of heroes to be exciting. Sometimes their stories can be as exciting as watching paint dry. That’s Life if you ask me.
LikeLiked by 2 people
hari
June 10, 2022
Here in MH, i know very many heroes who go against the Govt might. There were a group of 3 ladies who went against the builder/government lobby that was trying to call a nadi a nala so that Green laws don’t apply to the river and got the order quashed. I know volunteers who are on the lookout for fires (started by the same lobby) on hill tops and are the first ones to douse the fire. I know heroes who are a minute away for any animal rescue. I know senior citizen heroes who come every weekend to clean the river front. There are very many local Indian heroes, we just need to be on the lookout for them and get inspired. Jai Hind.
LikeLiked by 1 person
vijay
June 10, 2022
“Sometimes their stories can be as exciting as watching paint dry. That’s Life if you ask me.”
Pursuit of Happyness is a pretty engaging film of an otherwise ordinary person’s life or “watching paint dry” as you say..Our directors the likes of Lokeshs and Nelsons havent graduated beyond flicking from Hollywood mass masalas, thats the issue. Hollywood has many such engaging films inspired from regular stories..theres no reason why something similar cant be made here..but our stars and their directors dont have the guts to do it. So you need to be content with the occasional Jai Bhim that graces the OTT..
the recent pan India nonsense trend with larger than life heroes will further be a deterrent to anyone attempting something along these lines..
LikeLiked by 1 person
Prakash Alagarsamy
June 10, 2022
@macauly perapulla thanks for sharing the article. That was an inspiring article.
LikeLike
Macaulay Perapulla
June 10, 2022
@Vijay, Yes, I would include King Richard also in the same category. In the mainstream commercial cinema world, we need more Halitha Shameem to tell such ordinary stories of heroism. The last time I remember such ordinary heroism was in Lagey Raho Munnabhai. Simple ordinary story. Told with such panache. God knows what happened to that Raju Hirani. Halitha Shameem shows promise. Let’s see. I hope she takes on ambitious projects.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Macaulay Perapulla
June 10, 2022
@hari When I read your comment, I was reminded of Claude Alvares, another ordinary hero who has protected Goa and its beautiful environment from the mining mafia. His heroic life is worth so many stories.
LikeLike
vijay
June 10, 2022
“I would include King Richard also in the same category”
Hollywood’s Dangal..we havent even made a Dangal in tamil in recent times..Soorarai potru would come close even though it was a OTT release
LikeLike
Bala
June 10, 2022
On similar lines, all of our sports movies are of successful champions, the rags to riches stories. I would like to see some movie on some sports personalities who almost made it but never made it big. Would like to see how they grapple with those disappointments, how they overcome and still enjoy their lives, how they pass on their wisdom to others , etc. I feel those are the real motivational movies, because those are the stories of 99% of people who take up sports for a living. The recent movie on pravin tambe came close, but even that ended up reinforcing the idea that only success will justify all the sacrifices and hardwork .
LikeLiked by 2 people
Srinivas R
June 10, 2022
@Bala – I would really like bio pic on some like Vinod Kambli, the struggle to get to top, the drop off and frustration of never reaching those heights again. Or some domestic cricket stalwarts that couldn’t go on for bigger glories at international stage.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Madan
June 10, 2022
Kambli is still a success, played many international matches and was a mainstay for a few years. Just didn’t live up to his potential. Someone like Kanwaljeet Singh or Amol Muzumdar, yes, they were regarded as Ranji heroes and never got the cap. And then you have the supposedly sureshot prodigies like Unmukt Chand who didn’t make the cut internationally and now plays BBL. And this is just what we know. There must be very talented young cricketers who don’t even get the opportunities at First Class or IPL level and probably get disheartened and leave the game.
From the very small sample that I have seen, Europe seems to make films about seemingly ‘mundane’ subjects and turn them into something interesting. We seem to share with America an insistence on almost comic book level simplistic and feel good narratives. And perhaps that reflects in the political and social pathologies of both nations too.
I could be completely wrong but has a Theranos happened in Western or Central Europe in the last twenty years? I doubt it. There are swindlers everywhere but I THINK European investors would have asked how a Stanford dropout can invent a technology that PhDs haven’t. They would at minimum have said, show me the receipts. But America believes so much in the idea of a complete lone wolf genius that Holmes could cheat them by passing off the image and aesthetic of a Silicon Valley genius as the real deal.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Bala
June 11, 2022
Amol muzumdar was the one that came to my mind too. The movie could start with him being padded up during the legendary 600+ partnership between kambli and Tendulkar (true story).
LikeLiked by 2 people
Jay S
June 11, 2022
“For once I would like to see a movie about a normal guy who wins in a normal way” – Pariyerum perumal, I thought was a normal story about a normal guy.
LikeLike
Prakash Alagarsamy
June 11, 2022
@ Jay he won after beating up the assassin and some other persons. And worse he was made to shake hands with the person who almost had him killed
LikeLike