Analysing the Dynamics of Indian Politics through Paatal Lok

Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime Video, 2020) has intentionally or unintentionally ruffled enough feathers to garner public curiosity and attention and keep #PaatalLok trending on all social media platforms. The web series has offended the sensibilities of a certain segments of the Hindus, the Sikhs, Nepali Gorkha communities in India and is believed to appease religious minority. The series is also said to be the propaganda vehicle for the ‘liberals’ or even the ‘Left-Liberals’ in the country. So it crams quite a bit in the nine episodes based on the book The Story of My Assassins (2010) by Tarun Tejpal.

The series was released on an OTT platform—that is paid and requires discretion rather than censorship for viewing. So the series chooses to tell a dark story with blood and gore. Resultantly the existing societal faultlines are on display. Knowing the power of the visual medium, the imagery in the series does not shy away shaking the audience out of the preconceptions of India that have been gathered over time through mainstream Indian cinema.

‘Normal’ Mainstream Commercial Hindi Cinema

Overtime, it was ‘normal’ to dumb down the audience and dilute/ distort reality in commercial films. A large chunk of Indian cinema (read Hindi cinema) then came to be made with an urban backdrop with dream sequences that transported you to the Alps and Andes instantly. Rural and/ or small town India took you to the Yash Chopra/ Sooraj Bharjatiya set ups which created fictional towns and villages which had cowbells ringing lazily in the yellow mustard fields. The maximum that these films showed was how the ‘hero’ would fight 50 goons with rifles, single-handedly to prove a point. How will such films court controversies especially when the entry point for new aspiring filmmakers was so restricted? And, why would they? They had their steady, loyal audience who did not ask why the hero was always a Raj/ Rahul/ Rohan/ Rohit/ Aryan—Malhotra/ Singh/ Raichand and where the representation or inclusivity was.  

Even ‘rooted’ films were based on the filmmaker’s depiction of real India that would secure censorship clearance without a hitch. The close connection between the society and films and how they mutually influence and mirror each other justified strong censorship. Conservative argument expected ‘responsible’ films to be made that leave a positive impact on ‘impressionable minds’ watching them. So for a long time now, people have been anyway watching what they have been permitted to watch, well, more or less.

The Game Changer

Globalisation brought interesting changes into the industry. Small budget films with a new base of audience that looked beyond formulaic filmmaking was now feasible. As new filmmakers entered the industry with darker stories that long needed to be told, the competition became starker. A new ‘real’ had redefined the ‘norms’. The film industry suddenly boasted of a ‘mature audience’ that has now grown to accept and like traditionally unviable stories. The censors perhaps did not mature at the same speed though. With the number of controversies—intended and unintended—that the filmmakers courted with the censors will be a topic of discussion some other day. Suffice it to say that the OTT platforms changed the game completely.

It is now possible to side-step the censors altogether to tell the select audience—who ‘choose to’ watch the web series—a story that the filmmaker ‘wants to’ tell. Why? Because all stories have a right to be told. And after all, why not? The rules of the game here on OTT platforms are slightly different than in the outside world. If the content hurts your sensibilities, it is not the Harm Principle you refer to and seek paternalistic regulations of these ‘other regarding actions’. You simply need to switch to something more agreeable to your senses for it might not have affected me as adversely. And you really have no right to decide whether and what I watch. Isn’t that a part of one’s Freedom of Expression too?

We return to the issues raised specifically by Paatal Lok now and we follow the dynamics that have shaped Indian politics for all these years—class, caste, region, religion and gender by their inclusion or conspicuous exclusion. Ideology is a new touchy issue that gets added to the menu as also the dash of mythology that seems to be the new flavour of the web series made in the past couple of years.

Dynamics of Indian Mythology

India has a phenomenal mythological base. They have come to be woven into recent web series with ingenuity. So shows like Sacred Games, Asur and now Paatal Lok, among a few others have references to characters and circumstances that have been seamlessly woven into the craft. It is intriguing that people have found these references objectionable for unimaginative reasons and have asked why only Hindu mythology has been resorted to. Well, possibly because it IS the one closest to us and thus the most relatable? If you don’t understand why Aham Brahmasmi was used, how would you relate to Greek mythology, for God’s sake?

And by the same assumption that the visual medium provokes violence and other vices such as smoking and drinking among youth watching them—they should be also provoking a thought process, thus making Indian mythology ‘cool’ to be read and discussed? I even found it pretty tongue-in-cheek when the makers showed how little we knew about or read about our mythology when they had Hathi Ram Chaudhari state not once but TWICE that these have been written in our Sastras but he had read it on WhatsApp. Sarcasm is usually a lost art.  

One such furore about Paatal Lok was raised around Sanjeev Mehra’s pet/ stray dog being named Savitri. A section of social media went hammer and tongs after why they should use such a name to shame their religion. They could have named the poor dog anything indeed BUT for the blessed mythological significance of Savitri saving her husband’s life from the Lord of Death, Yama— here Savitri’s presence singularly fizzled out the Sanjeev Mehra assassination bid. The saying goes that the devil is in details. But no, symbolism and details are not things that we seek. We have been infantalised and spoon-fed by our films so much that everything has to be in your face or they refuse to acknowledge it.

Why didn’t references to Eklavya raise as much frenzy? Why don’t we talk about the injustice inherent in the mythological episode and selectively speak about his devotion? Nonetheless, there is a serious question about an inherent Hinduphobia in the content made of late.

Dynamics of Ideology and Propaganda

I really don’t know how many people in India cared for or understood (or still do) the concept of ideologies until recently. Resultantly, a large number of people have a half-baked understanding of the term and where they themselves stand on the linear scale of inclination. They make inexplicably conflicting choices—political and economic. So it is a little dicey to believe them when they lecture you about the ideological propaganda at play through the visual medium. 

For long, our education system was firmly placed at left of centre. This consequently defined its own centre and the term ‘liberal’ as per one’s own standing on the graph rather than the actual definition. So anything to the right of it is automatically termed ‘Right Wing’ and hence ‘dangerous’. Resultantly, it is true that people may be charged for being what they are not, due to initial preconceptions and notions which were never addressed or called out given that it was the ‘normal’.

Given the switch in government in recent years and their conscious efforts to redefine the ‘centre’ if not the ‘right’, there is a certain sense of insecurity, both among the academia and the people. It is not unfounded, given certain extremely serious reasons to question the whole process, methodology and justification given for the same. However, let us reiterate the fact that governments have used education and textbooks per se to extend their hegemony and shape public ideas and beliefs. Let us not absolve any political party or government of having done that.

Artists, the media and the intelligentsia have been responsible for overtly or covertly propagating ideas that challenge/ criticise the incumbent government which otherwise may be repressed. So to that extent, if one says that Paatal Lok brings out issues selectively and in a certain light, it may not be entirely wrong. So when Sanjeev Mehra states that “We (journalists) were the heroes” and that now they are trolled, threatened and fired; when he calls the liberals a cliché and when he still peddles fake news without batting an eyelid, Paatal Lok actually dwells extensively on his hypocrisy of ideology if only we looked carefully. Which brings us to ask ourselves what ‘real India’ is about?

Dynamics of Class

Hathi Ram Chaudhari relates the mythology of Swarg Lok, Dharti Lok and Paatal Lok with parts of Delhi-NCR pretty clearly. So there is no ‘one India’ as such. For the nuances of honour killings (NH-10), drug abuse (Uddta Punjab) and politics-crime complicity (Paatal Lok)[*], you evidently have to go deeper into the country-side for layers of reality to emerge. These are not particularly the preferred choices of the commercial filmmakers. So most often people choose to also live in a state of denial. After all, Tope Singh/ Chaku racing out of his village on a dusty countryside road busts all sights and sounds of a Punjab village hitherto held on to with cow bells ringing in blooming yellow mustard fields. Hence perhaps they also, chose Chitrakoot—to assert its existence and explore its narrow by-lanes. Otherwise it could have been Chandrapur and the classist audience would still not know where the dot lies on the map.  

Outer Jamuna Paar police station and Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhari’s character come out in stark contrast to say, a Bajirao Singham’s. Hathi Ram is a classic loser; who is too idealistic to flatter, feign or give up; who is determined to make his mark; who is vulnerable, bleeds, limps, suffers headaches. And then there is the awestruck police constable Manju clicking selfies with a celebrity journalist or leaking out prime suspect names through sweet talk and pastries are nuances which need an expert eye. When was the last time you saw a cop like that on screen?

The characters’ accents bring out the different India they belong to as well—both class and region.

Dynamics of Region

The series has also gained sufficient attention with regards to the regionalism that is overtly on display. It stoked the fire of identity politics afresh with the profanities thrown at a character which is clearly from North-East India. During interrogation, Cheeni comes to be referred to as a ‘Nepali prostitute’; then passed off as Girija Gurung and Mary Lyngdoh. The Nepali-Gorkha community has taken serious objection to the prejudicial language used against the community. They have insisted that it would reflect women from their community in a bad light and add to the discrimination and their vulnerability to sexual advances and physical attacks. Knowing how little people know of the North East and corona virus related racial discrimination they have faced in recent times, these objections are not totally misplaced.

However, I believe the series provides a serious platform to bring up this as a talking point. These surnames do not even share the common ethnicity. While one is a common surname in Nepal, the other is common in Meghalaya. People are oblivious to these details while they argue how they made a Tyagi the anti-hero. I believe it is evident that our priorities are grossly misplaced.  Having spoken about Cheeni, it is imperative we stick to the question of gender.

Dynamics of Gender

Paatal Lok brings the horror stories discussed in gender studies to the fore. Using rape as power-play; that women’s bodies bear the collateral damage during any conflicts; that family honour lies with the women of the house each comes across with startling impact. Vishal Tyagi’s sisters, Tope Singh/ Chaku’s mother and Cheeni all bear marks of the gender based violence. The audacity and the matter-of-fact manner in which they talk about sexual assaults should ideally make us focus on the issue which is usually invisiblised. There are of course other layers to the gender dynamics which includes Cheeni’s sexuality as a transgender fervently working for a ‘sex-change operation’ and Chanda who uses her femininity to her advantage.    

However, this part in fact evoked some serious questions from the Sikh community.

Dynamics of Religion

A section of the Sikh community took objection to the sexual assault on Tope Singh’s mother by people shown to be from their community in the series. Religion therefore, is an extremely emotive issue and especially in filmmaking in India, it’s a tightrope walk. So when Vishal/ Hathoda Tyagi is shown to hail from Chitrakoot, it is considered purposefully done to hurt sentiments as the place has scriptural mention. Also, when people with dubious reputations offer prayers to their deities it is considered hurtful. There is another serious question raised about a character being served meat in a temple by a priest. But don’t these characters exist in real life? Why are we living under a rock? Also, I have recollection of places of worship which continue to have animal sacrifices and on occasions make offerings to the deities as well. Their prasad IS meat. So I wonder whether we are jumping the gun with the ruckus.

There are some pertinent scenes which bring out what years of socialisation do to people’s mindsets. The prejudices and language and choice of words that may be derogatory to the ‘other’ are so deeply internalised that it takes conscious efforts to realise that one has become a part of the larger malaise. I think Hathi Ram understands this.

Also, when Imran Ansari is shown pitch perfect with his English, hardworking, honest, determined to crack the UPSC Civil Services examination and still gets advised to come across as ‘positive and progressive’ at mock interviews, it tells us about the larger communal issue at hand. When another candidate casually states that Ansari would be selected as even the UPSC needs to prove its ‘representation’, it underlines the same issue. When Ansari accepts prasad at the police station, it may be less about showing how ‘liberal’ he is, but more about his efforts to fit in. There may be perspectives which look at the same scenes through a different prism.

Kabir M. is another case in point. He doesn’t know his surname; he does not read Urdu; his father says he didn’t even allow him to grow up a Muslim and they made him into a Pakistani jihadi. This, and the lynching-stabbing episode on the railway station over the meat in the lunchbox bring out real life situations that have been woven with cinematic liberties. So one may look at it as propaganda but cannot refute their occurrence altogether.

They ask why they did not reflect on the shortcomings of other religions while they focus on the Hindu ones. They may, in Season 2, if there is one and if you wait for one. Or someone who shares your standpoint could make one which tells the story from a different perspective. However, it is relevant to note that Tejpal’s book was published in 2010. The specific communal references are therefore improvisations on the story thereafter and reflect on the makers’ political stance. Therefore the mention to ghar wapsi, lynching, Left-Liberals getting trolled, Gauri Lankesh’s murder and Batla House must be taken with care and consideration as they are passing references and do not bring out clear intentions. 

Another extremely emotive dynamic is the caste which also gets depicted with gravity.

Dynamics of Caste

Tope Singh/ Chaku belongs to the Manjaar caste and gets humiliated and bullied time and again for the same in the village. Out of belligerence, he gets roped into caste politics and then becomes a dispensable pawn. But the propaganda and caste consciousness that gets dinned into young minds through lyrics and catchy rap and hip hop music have been absorbed flawlessly. This is an area which needs more study and attention.    

Bajpayee championed the cause of Dalits while still quietly holding on to his casteist beliefs by carrying cans of gangajal to purify himself after any contact with his votebank is again not unknown.[†] That he made use of muscle power offered by the Gujjars—Donullia and Gwala Gujjar—to ensure his sway over the local populace talks of our acquaintance with the criminalisation of politics and politicisation of crime.

Paatal Lok carefully uncovers the layers of dynamics that shape Indian politics and social fabric. So I close the rather long piece with a few questions:

·         Why is it necessary to always create a backstory to prove how Vishal Tyagi became Hathoda Tyagi or Tope Singh became Chaku? Why do we need to prove that they have been victims of circumstances? How would it have affected the storyline if they had just chosen crime as their career?

·         Was the reference to Batla House necessary? Or could we have done without it?

·         Lastly, Gwala Gujjar asks Hathi Ram to hand over Masterji’s rudraksh to Vishal Tyagi as the latter had the right to know why he was unable to connect to his saviour/ handler. Vishal Tyagi shoots himself in desperation and the deep sense of aimlessness and loss on knowing his mentor is no more. However, it instantly made me think:

(1)   Knowing Hathoda Tyagi so well, was sending in the rudraksh Gujjar’s way of eliminating him? 

(2)   Did Hathi Ram become a pawn and inadvertently executed the plan to eliminate Tyagi, making way for the Bajpayee-Gujjar alliance, at which DCP Bhagat had failed?  

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[*] All three releases have been written by Sudip Sharma. These have been referred to show a trend—of issues and the writer’s consistent worldview.

[†] Article 15 depicted something close as well.