The single note-biography is salvaged a touch by Pankaj Tripathi’s performance
The Mumbai film industry rarely, if ever, does justice to biopics, be they on figures of contemporary relevance or figures of historical importance. Be persistentDirected and co-written by National Award-winning director Ravi Yadav (Natrong, Balgandharva, Balak Palak), does little to change widely held beliefs.
If not an unnecessary effort with no redeeming feature, Be persistent The film carries creases that could have been avoided if not for such a quick practice. The rush to wrap it up on time obviously took its toll on both writing and production. Yadav is known as a director with an eye for detail. That feature is conspicuous by its absence Be persistent.
More hagiography than homage, Be persistent Atal Bihari uses a cradle-to-grave approach to tell the life story of Vajpayee, a luminary of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the 10th Prime Minister of India. It goes without saying that the patchy film covers the entire spectrum of the right-wing leader’s boyhood years and eventful political career.
It presents bits and pieces of this as it flies from one high point to another high point to create an image designed to inspire awe and reverence. The trick doesn’t work as a play or a movie because whatever conflicts the story has are studiously underplayed to emphasize how insecure and unstoppable Vajpayee is (the leader’s given name was pronounced ‘Atal’).
Be persistent It brings out aspects of Vajpayee’s life and times that meet the demands of the prevailing political climate but fails to piece together a truly dramatic portrait of a statesman and an orator who has faced many ups and downs and ebbs and flows during the course. A long journey through the tumult of the freedom struggle, the turmoil of nation building and the challenges of party work.
Be persistent A single-note biography is saved a touch – just a touch – by Pankaj Tripathi’s central performance. The actor leaves no stone unturned to get into Vajpayee’s skin and mimic his body language and speech patterns.
Tripathi’s efforts do not bear the expected fruit as the screenplay on which it stands is held back by lack of imagination and true insight. If Yadav and co-author Rishi Birmani had paid more attention to the questions Vajpayee faced and the answers he found, the combination of humanity and political skill, political intelligence and communication skills would have paid much dividends.
Be persistent Looking from one thing to another, only to highlight the things that the real-life hero did as a politician and prime minister. The intricacies of subcontinental politics and ideological battles in Parliament and beyond are beyond the limited scope of this film.
It settles for a simple and reductionist approach that takes away all the sharp edges. Vajpayee’s initiative to build friendship between India and Pakistan and his journey on a Delhi-Lahore bus to attend a summit are described. However, his pacifist persona is allowed to become a mere footnote in a film made to promote a particular creed.
The allusion to the Kargil victory – now celebrated as Kargil Victory Day – could have been translated into something more significant than this film had it been in passing, the intelligence failures that led to the border conflict and its human cost.
Pankaj Tripathi’s casting as the politician is anything but perfect in terms of physical authenticity, but the actor manages to tackle the question of authenticity with a twist that comes close to being perfect within the constraints imposed by the role. Conceived by the authors.
Inspired by a Marathi book, Sarang Darshan’s Atalji: Kavihridaye Rashtranetri Charitkahani (The Story of a Poet-Leader)), Be persistent A literal portrayal of Vajpayee as a poet and politician endowed with extraordinary oratorical skills. It is the latter personality that the lead actor portrays particularly well.
will be Be persistent It would have been a significantly different film if the makers had not been slavishly guided by the title of the book and dared to paint the idea that a politician with the temperament of a poet, a man who grew up with a love for the Hindi language and mastered it. Rarity in politics? No question about it – it will lead to a more rewarding film. But, then, it will not fulfill the recognized objective of the project.
Delivered in broad strokes that depend on Vajpayee’s personal associations and political affiliations, the film omits many important details and nuances that could add up to an infinitely more rounded, analytical and comfortable portrait rather than the unalloyed peon it has become. to be
There are elements in the film that had tremendous potential – Vajpayee’s relationship with his father (played by Piyush Mishra) and his long-standing friendship with Rajkumari Kaul (Ekta Kaul) – but the script treats them as they should. Otherwise at its disposal, as a piece to fit into the larger picture.
In a purely cinematic sense, Key is impossible to get excited about Be persistent to be offered. But given the film’s messy raison d’etre, it can’t be a complete washout. It may find takers beyond their fold who demand greater critical depth and range in Bollywood biopics only to be disappointed time after time.
