Tag: history

(pronounced foo-lay)

Movie : Phule (in Theaters) – Hindi with English Subtitles

IMDB : 8.2

It was a “first day-first show” for me! 

For $12, I had the entire 200 seat hall to myself!

It would have been even better if they served some “chai and biskoot” (I am not really an “popcorn and soda” type guy).

I am so glad that I made the trip to New Jersey for this movie! It was so educational and inspirational! I had not heard about the Phules, till recently. It’s a shame that the great work done by these social reformers was not well publicized. Maybe it’s just me being ignorant of our history…

I loved how a historical cross-reference was given throughout the movie, in order to give a context to the world they lived in. For e.g. – they were only a few decades away from the French revolution; Abraham Lincoln was the president in the US. The US civil war and subsequent abolition of slavery happened right in front of their eyes (figuratively); All of these (along with Thomas Paine’s writings) had a profound influence on Mahatma Jyotiba and Savitribai Phule! The fact that they zeroed in on the need for educating the young ones – especially girls, that too under the oppressive circumstances of that time – highlights the mental fortitude of the couple!

I did know a bit about Anandibai Joshi (1st woman doctor from India, who got her MD from Women’s Medical college of Pennsylvania in 1886), who was also from the state of Maharashtra and is contemporaneous with the Phules. Her biography also details some of the horrors meted out against her and women in general of that time – who dared to step out and step up! You can well imagine the treatment of the lower caste Phules at that time. This was depicted very well in the movie!

Acting by the leads – Pratik Gandhi and Patralekha Paul – was excellent! Same with Vinay Pathak and Joy Sengupta! Darsheel Safary (of Taare Zameen Par) – doesn’t have much of a role to display his acting chops. The few songs/music didn’t do much for me. 

Do watch it to learn about these great souls who dedicated their lives for the betterment of society, against incredible odds!