DRAMATISING THE LIVES OF OTHERS

HERE is a joke among Telugu speakers that if Lord Krishna were to appear today, people would exclaim: "Who is this person who looks so much like N T Rama Rao?" The actor became chief minister of the undivided Andhra Pradesh on the back of powerful mythological roles.

- MADHAVAN NARAYANAN

That joke came to mind recently as I watched Phule, director Ananth Mahadevan's biopic on the 19th-century social reformer Jyotiba Phule, who, with his wife Savitribai, revolutionised women's education and challenged an entrenched caste system. As a figure somewhat lost in the larger-than-life stories of B.R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and E.V. Ramasamy Periyar, Phule's story as a person who preceded and inspired these leaders is one that needed to be told to younger audiences. There is nothing like a biopic to do that.

Visuals have the power to stir and store memories, and biopics play a strong role in binding generations to images, facts and tales surrounding them. They can have a downside, too. Solid research and responsible dramatisation separate the men from the boys among biopic makers. Those shining light on the grey shades of subjects are rare, but that is an inherent challenge in portraying celebrities.

Some accuracy can be lost in drama, some in shoddy research, and some in storytelling style. Cinematic licence, like its poetic equivalent, has its virtues, though propaganda films are not quite the same as real biopics. Perhaps the audience can figure this out. A recent biopic on Veer Savarkar has been a resounding flop despite the nationalistic fervour sweeping the country.

A biopic that made the world sit up was Richard Attenborough's