Chennai Express

The only time I have ever walked out of a film was 5 minutes into a Hindi film in Southall when I realised there were no subtitles. Luckily my Hindi speaking companion was sympathetic. Even now I am rather tense watching the first moments of a Hindi film until the subtitles appear on the screen. I bring this up because had Sue suggested we leave at the interval I would have been out of my seat like a shot. I think we stayed partially because we were already there and, for me, to see if the second half could be worse than the first.

Chennai Express is one of the fastest grossing Bollywood films of all time. It’s already a member of the 300 Crore Club ($48m) worldwide, one of only four films to do so, and broke box office records in the weekend of its release in India. While the public have flocked to the film the critics, both in India and abroad (the film was released worldwide almost simultaneously) have not been so impressed.

So to the movie: Rahul (Shah Rukh Khan (SRK)) is the scion of a well-to-do sweet seller’s family in Mumbai, raised by his grandparents after his parents’ deaths. After an indulgent and spoilt childhood Rahul (SRK) is seemingly prevented from meeting women because he’s so committed to his grandparents and the business. At the time of his grandfather’s death Rahul is planning a “boys’ “ weekend in Goa but plans are complicated by having to dispose of the ashes near Chennai. Getting on the Chennai Express Rahul helps a running woman, Meenamma (played by Deepika Padukone) onto the train, but finds she is pursued by a number of non-Hindi speaking brutish men. Then Rahul finds they are her father’s henchmen who have found her after she ran away. Some comedic moments follow with lyrics from songs from SRK’s films changed to confuse the Tamil speakers. But escape attempts are futile and they arrive at her father’s “territory” and Rahul finds he is a local underworld chief who has promised his daughter to a friend’s gigantic son, Thangaballi. Rahul and Meenamma escape spending time at another local village, are found and escape, but Rahul returns to the mafia village to fight the brutish Thangaballi. Rahul says he fights for the “common man”. Love conquers all and her father accepts Rahul as her husband.

The first half was fairly pacey establishing Rahul as restricted by family issues, a familiar theme in Bollywood. But that was just to set the scene. The “boys” again were just thrown in for effect. The Hindi songs bastardised on the train were an in-joke taken from SRK’s previous films – along with a number of other references to other Bollywood films (Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge; My Name is Khan; Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara; Khabi Khushi Khabie Gham). But beyond that there was very little characterisation, particularly of Meenamma. There were hints of racism - Indians are racist too - in the portrayal of the darker South Indians as large unintelligent brutes. There were a couple of dance numbers in the first half but they were simplistic dances and songs, often childish and facile.

The second half was actually a bit better, but that’s not saying much. A couple of the dance numbers, particularly set on the South’s tea estates, were actually quite entertaining. A car chase followed but for someone raised on Bond and Bourne the chase was fairly tame. But then a quite brutal fight scene between Rahul and Thangaballi.

None of the characterisation was strong. Rahul’s invocation of the “common man” was quite unexpected, and the love between Rahul and Meenamma was just not believable, certainly not compared to some of the couples in SRK’s previous films.

The hints of racism were added to by confusion between Hindi and Tamil, and just made one very uncomfortable. In addition, a scene when Rahul is on the run and comes across a man with dwarfism and a speech impediment is meant as a comic interlude partially but is gratuitously exploiting a dwarf and added nothing to the plot. But the Hindi speaking families behind us found it quite amusing.

The film also featured pure unreconstructed sexism of the type ingrained in Indian culture, but also of the type you hoped an international Bollywood film might manage to transform a little. Instead, we had a fairly assertive Meenamma on the run from an arranged (perhaps forced) marriage to Thangaballi, being captured and brought back to her domineering father by his henchmen. She seems to have no choice but to go through with the marriage to her father’s chosen partner before Rahul comes to her rescue. Rahul eventually ‘wins’ and is granted his chosen bride by Meenamma’s father – but only after the classic punch-up between the two would-be grooms over who gets the ‘girl’. Despite her feistiness, and constant attempts to escape, Meenamma returns to the passive bystander while the men fight over who gets to marry her. Hardly a promising role model for a 21st century woman – one in control of her own destiny - in whatever country – or indeed for her father or potential husband.

Brought up on the best of modern Bollywood and starring SRK we were expecting a lot better both in terms of the plot, songs and dances. The racism, sexism and casual treatment of the dwarf detracted considerably from the film. We didn’t find the comedy scenes funny at all – perhaps something was lost in translation.  If the film was meant as a parody of your classic Bollywood romance or Tamil action movie, then it wasn't a very good one and the in-jokes and references may well have been lost on an international audience. We do wonder if Bollywood tries too hard to combine what would normally be separate genres in its films from rom-com, to thriller to social commentary, and this was just a step too far.

Sue and I both evinced some concern for SRK’s continuing career. As we have noted before despite the fact he is good shape he can’t continue to play action roles, dance, and play the romantic partner of an actress in her 20s. Bollywood doesn’t appear to have the range of genres and movies that would be available to a leading actor of SRK’s age in Hollywood. But with SRK’s star power he can surely mould the industry to suit himself. Perhaps his wife’s involvement as a producer of Chennai Express skewed his judgement. Almost incidentally SRK and Padukone appeared on breakfast television in the UK, Daybreak, to help publicise the film. But the appearance was cringeworthy; the presenter had no idea that she was in the presence of a movie superstar, nor about the Indian film industry.

Overall 1 out of 5 and that’s mainly for the rather expensive popcorn we devoured.

 

The Indian Economy: Hubris, Nemesis....but Redemption is many years away

It’s rather unusual, if not unprecedented, if in the same week India features on the front page of the Financial Times, and is the subject of a leader in The Times. Consider also these headlines this week in the Wall Street Journal about India: “Shoppers, Shopkeepers Worried About Prices”, “Rupee Decline Hits Study, Emigration Plans”, “Rupee Fall Damps Festival Gold Buying”. These headlines are not what India needed after it celebrated Independence Day, and launches of an aircraft carrier and a nuclear missile submarine. Although not directly related the price of onions rose to UK levels this week. Prices rose not just because of a drought in some states but because heavy rains rotted much of the crop in other states. It seems India cannot even ensure onions are kept dry.

So what has prompted these headlines and the perception of crisis? The Indian rupee fell 16% since May 2013 to Rs64 to the dollar and over Rs100 to the UK pound, great news for tourists buying clothes in FabIndia, but spelling disaster for the Indian economy with prices of imports rising considerably. The Mumbai stock index, Sensex, fell to its lowest level for a year. The Indian government claims that the crisis has been caused by a tightening of monetary policy in the US, with increased bond rates attracting global investors who feel the US is a far safer place for their money than India. This claim has a veneer of truth but if the Indian economy was in better shape then international investors would not have abandoned it.

The causes of the crisis are manifold but in short they include slower growth, perhaps 5% this year, down from highs of 9% recently, and a growing current account deficit which reached 4.8% of GDP in March. One major contributor to the increasing import bill has been the level of oil and coal imports. India continues to import coal despite it holding the third largest reserves in the world. The power industry in particular has demands which Indian coal producers are unable to meet in the short term and this will rise in the medium term until domestic coal producers increase production. India already suffers from power cuts and this coal crisis will further deter Indian and foreign investments in industry generally.

High interest rates have also deterred investments in the Indian economy. Rates of over 7% impeded investments that India badly needed, and now in the midst of this crisis a rise in interest rates cannot be ruled out to protect the value of the rupee. Conversely there is now no likelihood that lowering interest rates dramatically as in the UK will have any significant effects because of the deep structural issues that operate as a brake on the Indian economy.

India also has a high budget deficit of -5.1%, although this is, for example, lower than the UK’s -7.6%. But the most important thing is that the markets have faith in the UK’s measures to reduce this deficit and its overall public debt. Further problems will arise if India is unable to fund these deficits except at the cost of higher interest rates.

The Indian state also incurs huge costs in its subsidy programmes notably oil, its work programme (NREGA) and the new Food Security Act. Oil subsidies affect kerosene, cooking oil, power stations and motor cars. Earlier in the year the Indian government announced a reduction in the level of subsidies but the fall in the value of the rupee has wiped out any savings. It is estimated that each Rs1 fall against the dollar adds over $1b to the subsidy bill. Moody’s suggested that fuel subsidies could rise to $25b this year. Politically it would be difficult to reduce the prices that consumers pay.

In this context Sonia Gandhi, President of the Indian National Congress, and the governing UPA coalition launched the food security programme this month which may cost $21b this year. The programme seeks to provide basic foodstuffs to up to 57% of India’s population. As an aside Sonia Gandhi said the programme would be “corruption free” although it’s unclear as to how she can make such a guarantee.

In addition, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) launched primarily as a work programme in 2005 and to improve rural infrastructure costs c$10b annually. Often the estimates for welfare expenditures bear no relation to the actual costs. While the aims of this welfare schemes are laudable they may foster an era of welfare dependency, and one cannot help thinking that the money would be better spent on infrastructure and education, in particular ensuring an educated workforce. But with an election due by May 2014 one cannot envisage the UPA coalition reducing welfare expenditure significantly because of the importance of the rural electorate.

The immediate responses to the rupee devaluation have been limited. Increased duty has been levied on gold and TVs imported as hold baggage. Apparently Indians import over 1 million TVs in this manner. Perhaps one should ask why India appears to be unable to produce TVs or build a strong domestic brand.

Dr Duvvuri Subbarao, Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), whose lecture I attended at the LSE earlier in the year (link here), has been blamed for much of the crisis and, in particular, for keeping interest rates high. But it is difficult to allocate blame to Dr Subbarao when so many of the factors leading to the crisis have been outside his control: from poor infrastructure and education, budget and current account deficits, to excessive spending on welfare. Dr Subbarao did joke that the current global recession would end when he left office. With his term due to end in early September 2013 that is actually true for most of the developed world but it may be the beginning of a very difficult period for the Indian economy with the possibility that the fall in the value of the rupee may trigger a recession.

Dr Subbarao will be succeeded by Dr Raghuram Rajan whose credentials are impeccable apart from the fact that he has been an adviser to the Indian Finance Minister. Dr Rajan has been Chief Economist at the IMF, and before the global financial crisis of 2008 made a presentation foreseeing the crisis and blaming excessive risk-taking in the markets. He was dismissed as a Luddite by Larry Summers, formerly US Treasury Secretary. So, Dr Rajan can say the unpalatable, and this is going to be crucial attribute in the months and years to come.

The Indian state is riddled with nepotism, cronyism and corruption. As an example putative MPs take out large loans to cover their election expenses knowing that corrupt money will flow in to their personal coffers if they are elected. India needs to stop protecting its own industries and businesses as this hinders the development of the economy. For example, a few months ago a liberalisation of the retail sector was mooted but the conditions were so restrictive it seems Tesco and Wal-Mart amongst others do not want to invest. Overall India has grown as far as it can within its structural boundaries. Dramatic change is necessary.

India needs its Blackships moment; in the mid-nineteenth century the latest American warships arrived at Edo Harbour to force Japan to open itself to the wider world. Thus began Japan’s journey to a fully developed nation, although not without various issues. But the point being that an external shock is necessary for India.

A radical modernisation is necessary in education, infrastructure – Mumbai is only getting a metro system this year – in banking, and to enable foreign companies to invest without conditions. If present conditions continue the downturn will provoke civil unrest. One can only hope that the present crisis focuses the minds of the business elite, and they in turn pressurise future governments to modernise.

Kumbh Mela - the Greatest Show on Earth - BBC2

‘At the time of the Kumbh Mela, at the point of the confluence of the rivers, a space opens up between this world and the spiritual’.

This was the description of the Kumbh Mela put forward by Professor Chakravarti Ram-Prasad, of Lancaster University. I just love this kind of grand narrative, this birds-eye viewpoint of our tiny universe. It reminds me of the opening of the first chapter of the Vimalakirti Nirdesa Sutra on the ‘Purification of the Buddha-Field’:

‘Reverence to all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, Aryasravakas, and Pratyekabuddhas, in the past, the present and the future.

Thus have I heard at one time. The Lord Buddha was in residence in the garden of Amrapali, in the city of Vaisali, attended by a great gathering. Of bhiksus there were eight thousand, all saints. They were free from impurities and afflictions, and all had attained self-mastery. Their minds were entirely liberated by perfect knowledge. They were calm and dignified like royal elephants. They had accomplished their work, done what they had to do, cast off their burdens, attained their goals, and totally destroyed the bonds of existence. They all had attained the utmost perfection of every form of mind control.’ (1)

Fabulous stuff. And the reason why the Kumbh Mela is celebrated – again from Professor Chakravarti Ram-Prasad:

‘The nectar of immortality was found and fought over by the gods and demons. Some drops of it fell to earth and the places where it fell are the places where the Kumbh Mela is now celebrated’.

The drops fell to earth in Allahabad in February of this year, and the BBC was there to witness it. Over 100 million people were expected, over the course of 55 days to gather, worship the gods and purify themselves in the water of the Ganges. Apparently this year was a ‘Maha Kumbh’ – a ‘Great Kumbh’ which only happens every 144 years and always at Allahabad. Just as a comparison, the numbers at the annual Hajj in Mecca – the pilgrimage site of Muslims – average around the 2.5 – 3 million mark.

The BBC followed 4 British men and women attending the Kumbh Mela this year. There was Helen O’Hagan, an erstwhile business development manager at a London law firm, turned spiritual seeker in India, having spent the last 3 months at a yoga centre in India. At the age of 34 years, when her peers were getting married and starting families, she yearned for something more, for the spiritual – and made what she referred to as a ‘choiceless decision’ to pursue this yearning. You couldn’t help wondering if she had just read ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ – but nevertheless you had to have some sympathy with her quest. I think life in a City law firm would make me turn to God (or whatever) after a few years. And at least she was sincere, having found a guru and spent the previous 2 months on a silent retreat.

Then there was Shivali Bhammer – an economics graduate, former City trader – turned devotional Hindu singer, daughter of wealthy Indian business parents and brought up in Kensington. She was impeccably made up and even in India seemed to wear beautiful, designer clothes as she danced and searched for inspiration from the devotional singers present. ‘It looks like an extremely colourful refugee camp’ she remarked from her car, driving through the crowds. Then, bravely approaching a stark naked, ash covered sadhu, she said, ‘I think you are very beautiful’ – being very careful to look him directly in the face. ‘I don’t care about being beautiful – it’s got nothing to do with me’, he replied.

Kanan Thakerar was a business woman attending with Riya, her niece – also studying economics. Just to pause here for an aside: why does everyone seem to be studying economics now, or is an economics graduate, or working in finance or law? What happened to medicine or dentistry as the tried and tested route to financial stability and professional status in the UK? Even the hours for junior doctors are a bit more reasonable than they were – but maybe the lure of City salaries and bonuses beckon too much for the 2nd or 3rd generation immigrants from South Asia. Anyway, Kanan was in the process of setting up a consultancy advising businesses on setting up in an Indian market – but wanted to explore her Hindu roots further.

Finally there was Dr Manish Pankhania – known as ‘Roshan’, attending with his guru Swami Vishwananda.

For me though, the 2 most interesting people interviewed were an American-born sadhu called Baba Rampuri and Shaunaka Rishi Das – a Hindu, originally born an Irish Catholic.

Baba Rampuri, with the long beard and orange robes of an Indian sadhu, was from Beverley Hills, California. He left the US in 1969 at the age of 18, looking for ‘magic and mystery’ in India – found it, and stayed. It was 20 years, though, before he understood anything – as it was astoundingly complicated and sophisticated. He found the relationships among the ‘sadhu family’ in India as intricate as within any other family. Good on him, I thought, for going to India searching and staying the course. It would have been so easy to give up when the going (spiritually or materially) got tough and go back to consumer complacency back in the US like so many other people.

As with Shaunaka Rishi Das – now the Director of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. He joined a Hare Krishna ashram in Dublin in 1979, though his original desire was to be a Christian. Instead, he found Hindus ‘practising Christianity, but not calling it that’ (2) – and had to struggle with the fact of Christianity being practised to the highest standard, but by non-Christians. If only all of us followed through with our youthful idealism, instead of getting bogged down along the way with careers, families, consumer goods and frivolous wants and desires. ‘The meaning of the sadhu life is of sacrifice – it’s not a consumer thing,’ said Baba Rampuri. How true this is, but also how rare to find sacrifice and self discipline being upheld as a virtue in this post-modern, instant gratification society we have created.

My thoughts turn to Shivali’s devotional singing and You Tube videos. I find myself slightly troubled by Hindu devotional songs being packaged and promoted in this way. The perfection of Shivali’s make up and clothes, the carefully chosen settings for her songs and electronic modification of her voice – all sit uncomfortably for me with the true ascetics, the sadhus who leave behind family, belongings, clothes and status to venture into the spiritual unknown, with no guarantee of any results. The spiritual quest does not package up quite so easily for a capitalist market. Perhaps I am being a little harsh though, as she has indeed made the effort to travel to the Kumbh, and has had the courage to pursue something different – something that many millions of others wouldn’t even try to explore.

And so to the high point – 10 February and the main bathing day where an estimated 30 million people bathed in the Ganges to wash away their sins. Led by a huge procession of naked sadhus, it made an extraordinary sight. Roshan was pleased to be able to join the sadhu procession for the first time, as Hindus from the wider diaspora were recognised equally. There was another first as well – not touched on in the documentary. For the first time, Dalits (‘Untouchables’) were also allowed to bathe in the Ganges alongside Brahmins – which apparently ‘dissolved’ their ‘Untouchable’ status. Swami Vishwananda has commented, ‘….there are lots of profound changes taking place. Nobody knows why they are happening now. It is a Divine arrangement’. (3) Or perhaps it has nothing to do with the Divine but a growing realisation in India and Hinduism – and criticism from human rights campaigners outside - that defining millions of fellow human beings as somehow sub-human, destined to live on the margins of society, has absolutely no place in today’s world.

India really is such a country of contrasts – where conservative traditions still govern relationships between the sexes – especially outside the major urban centres – yet here thousands of completely naked men parade to bathe in the Ganges, alongside women. I did wonder where all the holy women were (sadhvis) and why they were not joining in (perhaps not naked) – it would have been good to see renunciate and ascetic women instead.

Meanwhile, Shivali takes a trip out in her own boat on the river, away from all the crowds. Her intention is to take a ritual dip too, but even away from all the others, she can’t bring herself to do it. Worried about pollution in the river, she just dips her hands in the water instead. 

1. Robert A.F.Thurman (translator), ‘The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti’. The Pennsylvania State University Press 1990 edition.

2. "Memories of a life less ordinary". Wexford People. April 8, 2009.

3. Bhakti Marga press release 18 March 2013.