It's all about the Essentials, Bhaaya!

Pk is a movie worth watching.  And giving some attention to.  As I sat watching it, there was initially a question: is the movie trivialising issues? Then, as I continued, I felt, "wow, brilliant!" What a plot and what characterisation.

Image from Indian Express.com

I do not know whether the movie intended this, however the character Pk is at the same time, both a caricaturisation and a questioning of that caricature. To hold both aspects in the same character, and in the same movie, and to be saying it within the usual 2 and 1/2 or 3 hours is something indeed. 

Pk's journey is that of a Hindu's, albeit a caricature. (It may or may not be that of individuals of other religions in India, I cannot comment on it. I am a Hindu and want to only speak of what I think I know of a Hindu's experience) - this journey of encountering the idea of God, trying to make sense of the drama around this idea, his passion and near fanaticism when he unquestioningly accepts the given and said, (sometimes) eventual disillusionment and swinging all the way to the other end - disbelief and questioning, and fewer times, resolution and clarity.  A journey of a lifetime, or many perhaps, has been fitted into about 3 hours.  It will obviously be intense and not a little, overwhelming.  It will obviously garner the heated reactions that it has.  And also because it has not stopped with the caricaturisation of popular status quo.  In Pk's radical shift towards the initial disbelief, and asking difficult questions, and then later arriving at understanding for himself, the movie has used the innate intelligence of the character.  This type of an intense shift, and an intelligent observation of all that is happening, as they are happening, and within the short duration shown, occurs rarely.  It is usually a much slower journey for the ordinary human being, and in such traumatic conditions (of having no way of returning to one's own familiar world and being lost in absolute alien surroundings without any way of fending for oneself), the said human would most probably freeze into the shock of the trauma.  And hence, it makes sense that the character is way, way beyond even a high intelligence quotient of an earthling, and has honed his mind to such sharpness, of being able to pierce through the cobwebs and see a clear picture, even as the picture unfolds or very soon thereafter.  

His journey has all the elements that an ordinary Hindu encounters in his / her tryst with the idea of God.  Many get to the point of questioning and examination as well.  And so cleverly, the movie has not left it at questioning.  The plot has been taken to its fruition - Pk's unique experience also resulted in resolutions of some sort, and action.  It is not necessary that each one's journey, even in the same ideas, has to have the same result.  Each one's would be different according to their questions, their actions and intentions.  Sarfaraz got his lady love, Jaggu found the damn good story that she wanted to tell, Pk got great raw material for research, discovered earthling-type romantic love and managed to reclaim his ticket to return home.

Image from indiatoday.intoday.in

And what of us, the audience? Pk offers his understanding on national (I am guessing) television, no less, while also managing to find a way to unite the lovers (come on guys, this is bollywood, we have to get the lovers together, even if the stereotypes of 'hero' and 'heroine' is getting blurred here) And their case is also intricately connected to the main plot, which we will get to a little later.  

Pk's offering is very clear.  Its about the essentials.  Nowhere does his narrative indicate that we have to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  There is a culture that gets built around each religion, and which is constantly also changing, getting added to, getting reduced and whatnot. All that he is saying as I see it is that let us not allow this to become the reason for our division. A true religion (he talks of this as God, I am calling it true religion) is one that unites, harmonises, and not that which divides us.  What divides us is of our making.  Let us see this clearly.  That is the essential.  If we derive further from this essential, each of us would be true to our native religion while at the same time holding each other in respect and love.  There is no question here of talking of this religion or that.  This essential would be true of every individual, every entity.  Anything can be divisive in nature or otherwise, it is how we treat it.  So let us not give into the division.  Clearly, the matter of how vibrant and intricate culture is, and what goes into understanding this, is not within the scope of this movie. However I do not see anywhere, it deriding any culture per say.  

The other plot of the lovers finding each other is actually well connected to the main running theme. (In fact the plot is quite tightly and well put together).  Sarfaraz and Jaggu had to find each other and had to discover the case of the mistaken identity of the letter writer, for it to be proven that the god-man was a fraud pretending to talk to God.  And this part of the plot highlights so clearly that this kind of conditioning is so insidious and we don't even know that it is a part of us.  Jaggu is an educated, intelligent, rebellious journalist (student earlier), who has gone and done the unthinkable. And yet, it is the fear and conditioning that had her leaving the church in haste. She didnt even think for a moment to have faith in her love, and to question the letter and its contents as meant for her.  It is this subtle point in the plot that is important for each of us.  It is not as much the loud noises and the direct lures and conditioning that we need to question, but our own hidden fears and resulting assumptions.  It plays such a huge and significant role in the lives of the protagonists.  Just imagine, what if she had taken a breath, taken a step in, and thought of Sarfaraz for a moment.  Let us just for a moment, step into ourselves and take an honest look: how many such assumptions and fears do we carry within our selves all the time? And how they limit us and our actions. 

A collector's item, this one. 

Notes:
1. The "Bhaaya" in the title of the post, means "brother" in Bhojpuri dialect and this is the way in which the character of Sanjay Dutt addresses PK in the movie
2. I realise you need to have watched the movie to get some of the details mentioned in the post. Do watch it. :)