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When a person gets to know the reality of life, and to investigate about the deeper meaning of his existence, and about life then some soul jerking, and unusual things happen which are quite obvious. This is what we have seen as being most relevant with the main character or protagonist “Babu Bhai”, in this Bollywood’s parallel art cinema world under discussion.
That's great to see that the film is a very low budget but intellectually very impactful movie, with different layers about the philosophy of human life, and how our perceptions are variant with each single human being.
A Lower Middle Class aged man decides one fine day that he will believe on what he sees, and with his own experiences. He no longer wants to follow the clichéd thoughts and ideas that are inculcated in every normal person like us. So, he is not sure about faith, the meaning of life, and wants to see, hear, touch and experience everything taught to him like a normal and a social norm. Here we can relate his mindset with a paradigm shift as if he has inhaled the theory of “René Descartes”, who started the theory of putting doubts in all set beliefs, ideas, faith, set of knowledge and even in matter. His famous “Cartesian Doubt Theory” divided the philosophers and thinkers into two main groups for long.
The writer and director ‘Rajat Sharma” of “Ankkhon Dekhi” seems to be under that greati nfluence of Descartes theory. If we look at the life of “Babu Bhai”, and ordinary person with limited set of knowledge, education, survival job, and a household in a less privileged area, normally called lower middle class in the eastern or Indian society. He might have had great desires to be rich, famous, handsome and to travel across the world. That’s why his journey of truth started from his office, a Travel Agency. When he started telling his official clients that he is not sure about how much time different flights will take for different destinations, he doesn't know about the weathers and other details. When his boss asked about his travel history, then he was quite ashamed, reluctant, or embarrassed. That’s an expression of low self-esteem, and not being so confident to tell any truth about himself.
He wants to experience the roar of a tiger or about how quick money can come in a way by gambling. Actually, he is actually living same of his most desired wishes, and it happenedt hat he could spend and earn better. He was better able to arrange his daughter’s wedding in a more societal win-win manner, or having last travel to hill station with his always brooding wife. He started seeing goodness and beauty in others, and it means that he had an age-oldi nferiority complex about looks and social status, as he selects his future son-in-law on theb asis of that guy’s reluctant and submissive nature. Not only that, but he praised the office boy and the gambling world don, and there is a material benefit behind it.
Furthermore, he left the job so easily, as he assumed that his family’s financial cycle, wouldnot be disturbed as his younger brother is doing a better job, and his son is mature enoughto earn proper bread and butter. What if the situation could not have been that way? Isn’t it is ironic to see his truth and silence being subject to his ease and escape. He was so desperate to know that his younger brother had arranged a different residence, and the disappointment was more of a financial as well as moral support. Gambling, a crime is goodfor him and his son as its an easy way of finding a better financial cycle. He is good to neighbors, and to society about Truth, and vocal for it. But he couldn’t go to congratulate or
meet his younger brother on having a better home unless there is a dire social need to have
bride’s uncle at the wedding. It all proves that he is still conscious, and fearful of social norms, and how his daughter’s in laws will question him. His silence and a younger boy’s continuous talking about life, and questioning the pre-determined notions, is a duality. Because whatever the boy said about pain, merging truth from another perspective, about combination, reality, and purity is all truth. But he has to stop it.
Now the climax of the whole movie is his leap into the open skies from a high hill, do you think it is his wishful desire to end up his monotonous life? He represents all those people who are so frustrated in this modern era, and are bound with typical duties that everyone expects from a sane person. He wants an escape, and a need to end up seeing as if death is peaceful, and if there is some reality beyond this physical existence. Here he is seen as a person who can’t face bitter realities and burdens of life anymore, and thinks about ending up his life, not for the sake of investigative truth. But a final escape that many people canempathize in this cutthroat world of competitions, luxuries, comforts, earnings, and comparisons....!!
