This presentation was delivered on 25 Feb, 2014 for the FINDAS group of Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Tokyo.

1. SATYAGRAHA:
Social Movement & Cinema
A Presentation by
Prof. Ram P Dwivedi

2. Reality Vs Imaginative



Imagination is essential to communicate the
real.
Language is also a kind of imagination and so
all art forms are like this
Cinematic imagination seems very real but it
is similar to others

3. Cinema with Social Concern





ACHHOOT KANYA(The Untouchable Girl,
1936)
DO BIGHA JAMIN (Two Acres of Land,1953)
MOTHER INDIA(1957)
DAMUL (Directed by Prakash Jha, 1984)
LAGAAN (The Land Tax,2001)

4. Cinema: Art or Tool of Social Change
Art for art’s sake or art for society: An old
debate(Marxism Vs Others )
 SATYAGRAHA- Film / Movement
 This film has clear-cut impact from real
movements.
 Film Analysis:
Semiotics/Technical/Production/Marketing/Hist
orical etc.


5. My Points of Discussion




1-The Plot/Story of the film as a mirror image
of the happenings around the nation. If so, why
it is NOT a documentary.
2-As an ART PIECE : Story, Characterization,
Location, Cinematography etc.
3-Investment and Recovery. Audience
response
An over all evaluation: You may agree or
dissent

6. Understanding the Movement 1





Understanding Corruption (Give & Take)
Crime & Corruption
The Politics, Democracy & Public Protest
Jan Lokpal (Citizens’ Charter /Public
Ombudsman): Demand & Necessity
Government & its Hesitations: Reasons &
implications

7. Understanding the Movement 2

Scams in India
Based on Media Reports/Alternative
Sources
1 Crore=10000000
Name
Nature
Year
Amount Involved(Rs)
2G
Political
2008
176000 Crores
Commonwealth
Games
Political
2010
35000 Crores
Telgi
Financial / Judicial
1992-2002
20000 Crores
Satyam
Financial
2009
14000 Crores
Bofors
Political
1989
16 Million US$
Fodder
Political
1996
900 Crores
Hawala
Financial/ Pol
1991
19000 US $
IPL
Games
1996
18 Million US$
Harshad Mehta &
Ketan Parekh
Stock Market
1991-92 &
2001
4000+1000 Crores

8. Understanding the Movement 3





Anna Hazare & Arvind Kejriwal: Who are
they?
Difference of Opinion: Reason & Division
between them
Political Vs Social: NOT two different things.
Creativity, Imagination of a social movement
Social Issues in a film

9. Understanding The Title



SATYAGRAHA:
Meaning
(Encyclopedia
Britannica
)Satyagraha, ( Hindi: ―insistence on truth‖ or ―zeal for truth‖)
concept introduced in the early 20th century by Mahatma
Gandhi to designate a determined but nonviolent resistance to
evil. Gandhi’s satyagraha became a major tool in the Indian
struggle against British imperialism and has since been
adopted by protest groups in other countries.
According to this philosophy, satyagrahis—practitioners of
satyagraha—achieve correct insight into the real nature of an
evil situation by observing a- nonviolence of the mind, by
seeking truth in a spirit of peace and love, and by undergoing a
rigorous process of self-scrutiny. In so doing, the satyagrahi
encounters truth in the absolute. By his refusal to submit to the
wrong or to cooperate with it in any way, the satyagrahi asserts
this truth.

10. SATYAGRAHA: The Plot 1



The film begins with arrival of a train at
Ambika Pur (Small Town/ District) station.
Manav{Ajay
Devgn},
a
professional,
capitalistic mind rich youth gets down and
welcomed by his engineer friend who is
brought up under guidance of his idealistic
father, Dwarka Anand{Amitabh Bachchan}
Manav & Dwarka Anand (Dadu Ji) had a
discussion over dining in which Manav
defends new economy and making profit.

11. SATYAGRAHA: The Plot 2




Corruption makes a bridge to fall and conspiracy
makes the the honest engineer to be killed in a
road accident.(Satyendra Dubey-Bihar, 200)
Minister announces the compensation money
which was not given to the family and finally
Dwarka Anand slaps the commissioner and jailed.
Manav tries to bail out Dwarka Anand but he failed
and in despair he mobilizes the common man with
the help of Arjun Singh & his journalist friend
Yasmin Ahmad (Kareena Kapoor).

12. SATYAGRAHA: The Plot 3



Due to pressure from all around Dwarka
Anand is released and he comes to know that
his son was killed because of conspiracy and
NOT an accident.
He refused to take compensation money and
asks the minister and the Commissioner to
clear the pending files of the people within 30
days.
Manav is trapped and asked to leave the town
but he distributes all his belongings to his
share holders

13. SATYAGRAHA: The Plot 4





He returns back to the town but no one believes him any
more. He clarifies his stand and the movement again gains
momentum.
During the protest/ Dharna one person commits self
immolation (real:Dinesh Yadav of Bihar State) & dies.
Protesters want to demonstrate with his dead-body which
creates differences among the protesters but finally it was
allowed
During demonstration the minister sends his goons and it
becomes violent and firing from police kills DADU JI who
says non-violence is his last wish to be practiced.
Finally minister is sacked and put into the jail and the public
wins. An idealistic ending.

14. Reflections of Reality
India Against Corruption/ Black Money :
Anna Hazare/ Kejriwal/ Kiran Bedi & Baba
Ram Dev
 May Be: EGYPT & other countries movements

The Brave Heart gang rape case of
Delhi and public protest specially by Youths,
students and intellectuals.
Victory of Aam Aadmi Party (AAPCommon People’s Party) in Delhi Assembly
Elections, Dec 2014. Now they run Delhi Gov.

15. The Limitations






Farmers’ protest
Laborers wages and other issues
The poverty
Issues of Untouchables/ Tribes/Dalits
Issues of Women & Children in a limited manner
(The advertisement: Children Reach 5)
Developmental issues in countryside/Villages
(Road, Drinking Water, Electricity, Hospitals,
Schools etc.)

16. Cinema of Upper Middle Class
All movements cited above were managed by
 1-Media, particularly TV
 2-Social media or Internet, particularly by
FACEBOOK
 3-Mobile /SMS
 PARTICIPANTS:
 Youths, Students, Teachers, Advocates and
few Businessmen indirectly supported by
JOURNALISTS.


17. Mobile Users
Courtesy:
WIKIPEDIA
Country or
region
Rank
Number of
mobile
phones
Phones per
100 citizens
Population
Data
evaluaton
date
97
2013[2][3]
-
World
6,800,000,0 7,012,000,0
00+ 00[1]
01
China
1,227,360,0
00[4]
1,349,585,8
89.2
38[5]
December
2013[4]
02
India
904,480,000
1,220,800,3
74.96
59[6]
31 October
2013[7]
03
United
States
327,577,529
04
Brazil
268,440,423
05
Russia
256,116,000
06
Indonesia
236,800,000
07
Pakistan
130,583,076
08
Japan
121,246,700
127,628,095 95.1
June 2013[15]
09
Nigeria
114,000,000
165,200,000 69
May 2013[16]
10
Bangladesh
110,675,000
165,039,000 73.8
September
2013[17]
310,866,000[
8]
192,379,287[
10]
142,905,200[
10]
103.9
June 2013[9]
135.4
August
2013[11]
155.5
July 2013[12]
237,556,363 99.68
188,854,781[
13]
69.18
September
2013[10]
December
2013[14]

18. Internet Users 2012
Courtesy: WIKIPEDIA
Internet
users[2]
Rank Penetrat
ion[3]
Rank
Country or area
China
568,192,066
1
42.3%
102
United States
254,295,536
2
81.0%
28
India
151,598,994
3
12.6%
164
Japan
100,684,474
4
79.1%
33
Brazil
99,357,737
5
49.8%
86
Russia
75,926,004
6
53.3%
81
Germany
68,296,919
7
84.0%
22

19. Urban Centric
The movement was urban(Metro) centric BUT
 The film goes to villages and towns..
 One SCENE shows the farmers’ protest but it
is just referential.

ISRJ

1997-2008 : Total Farmers Suicides
199,132
 Arjun Sengupta Committee: 836 M people live
less than Rs. 20/day


20. Farmers’ Distress

21. Arjun Sengupta: Report
source: http://odrf.wordpress.com/2007/09/01/836-million-indians-live-on-less-than-rs-20-a-day-ibnlivecom-videos/

An overwhelming 836 million people in India live on a
per capita consumption of less than Rs 20 a day,
according to the findings of the Arjun Sengupta report
on the Conditions of Work and Promotion of Livelihood
in the Un-organized Sector. The report is based on
government data for the period between 1993-94 and
2004-05.
While the numbers rose by a staggering 100 million,
the numbers of the new rich has also grown by 93
million. ―Our survey is very scientific. The other poverty
estimates looked at the absolute poor only but we look
at different categories of poor,‖ Chairman, National
Commission for Enterprises in Un-organized Sector,
Arjun Sengupta said. So, who are the ones who have
actually benefitted from the boom in the economic
growth of the country?

22. India: The Largest Democracy
Helplessness of common people.
 Democracy Vs Cartelization of Power
 Emergence of Regional Political Parties as
Black Mailers/Power Bargainers {character of
MINISTER BALRAM Singh-Manoj Bajpai}
 A
Fractured Democracy- Caste, Region,
Religion and Language
 Need to Decide the preferences


23. The Film Prefers






Urban-Caste, region, religion & lingual barriers
hardly matters.
Youth- Liberal new Generation [ JANTA ROCKS]
Journalists-Deadly Professional People
Advocates & Intellectuals-They know the reality
and a strong will to change
Private Service Class- Target oriented Servants
Mahatma GANDHI- is a natural leader of masses
(Peace & Non-violence)

24. A commercial Film

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Off Beat/Parallel –Commercial/ Popular
The Budget ( Rs.79 Crore)
Story
Actors
Location/ Set Design
The Audience
BOX-OFFICE

25. Bollywood Top Grossers Movies in 2013
Bollywood
2013
Box Office
Positions
Movie
Lead Stars
Directors
India Nett
Collection
in Crores
1
Chennai
Express
Shah Rukh
Khan, Deepika
Padukone
Rohit Shetty
226.70
Yeh Jawaani
Hai Deewani
Ranbir Kapoor,
Deepika
Padukone,
Kalki Koechlin,
Aditya Roy
Kapur
Ayan Mukerji
190.03
Bhaag Milkha
Bhaag
Farhan Akhtar,
Sonam Kapoor,
Divya Dutta,
Yograj Singh,
Rebecca
Breeds
Rakeysh
Omprakash
Mehra
103.50
4
Grand Masti
Riteish
Deshmukh,
Aftab
Shivdasani,
Vivek Oberoi
Indra Kumar
102.50*
5
Race 2
Saif Ali Khan,
Deepika
Padukone,
John Abraham
Abbas Mustan
102.00
6
Aashiqui 2
Aditya Roy
Kapur,
Shraddha
Kapoor, Shaad
Randhawa
Mohit Suri
85.40
7
Special
Chabbis (26)
2
3
Akshay Kumar,
Anupam Kher, Neeraj Pandey
Kajal Aggarwal
70.00
Prakash Jha
67.85
8
Satyagraha
Amitabh
Bachchan, Ajay
Devgn, Arjun
Rampal,
Kareena
Kapoor,
9
Once Upon A
Time In
Mumbaai
Dobaara!
Akshay Kumar,
Sonakshi
Sinha, Imran
Khan
Milan Luthria
65.00
10
Raanjhanaa
Dhanush,
Sonam Kapoor,
Abhay Deol
Aanand L Rai
62.75
boxofficecapsule.net

26. Cine Language & Movement

27. Satyagraha: The Idea
Personal Distress --------Social Distress
 Loneliness among Crowd or THE CROWD IS
ALWAYS LONELY.
 Failure of the Success
 Disappointment to Struggle
 Prayer to ACTION[Raghupati Raghav
Rajaram, humko karne hai kuch kaam]
 Greed of few can destroy an entire civilization


28. Evaluation-1


The Director tried to balance the movie- Item
song/Classical,
Reality/Fiction,
Documentary/Feature
Film,
Message/Entertainment
Indian
Audience
like
the
spice
of
MELODRAMA,
DANCE,
SONGS
&
ENTERTAINMENT and COMEDY

29. Evaluation-2




Irony of life: We come across many people but
we remember only those whom we love the
most or those we hate the most
Similarly we like the film which entertains us
completely or which disturbs us completely
Unfortunately it failed on the both fronts, BUT
Whenever we’ll try understand, to know about
the social/political/economic status and
happenings of the 2nd Decade of India, this film
is an essential reference.

30. THANK YOU