Very off beat, very unlike Indian cinema yet very much us. That is Buddha in a Traffic Jam. It’s all happening out there yet we are oblivion of the fact as if all’s good and we are all happy-happy. That is Buddha in a Traffic Jam.
Some movies might not have a story, like I didn’t find one in this one. Some movies are dreadful, intriguing that make you so lost in the thought process that make you wonder WHY (of so many kinds)? You are entangled in the muck which you start believing might exists everywhere.
“Corruption is good” is the catch phrase that Professor uses to identify his targets who can be an accomplice to him in his mission against imperialists and the capitalists. And so you pretend to be one among the flock, which you are eventually putting a fight against. Yes, the movie is about Socialism vs. Capitalism.
Well, neither I am so well read on the subject matter nor do I have the capacity to give a verdict of my own on what is better and what is not; there were messages that I already find interesting and saddening enough.
A large poster of Cola companies put out there in the open in front of which millions go thirsty. Fast Food outlets where we hurry up through our meals and children just begging outside for that single meal of the day. The nakedness that sells in commercial mode is a symbol of poverty in the rural boundaries. What is supposed to be the property of public is enjoyed by handful of people. This resonates with my opinion that only few select groups/individual have a hold on the wealth and resources.
And rest of them are left to starve and die. I strongly believe that everybody should have an equal opportunity to make their lives and career (which too is missing in our system). Because at the end of it connections matter more than merit!
Contradistinguish, I felt perplexed as circumstances evolved in the movie because at one point of time, I started feeling that how Education makes you so opinionated and puts you at risk. Not only that, it also makes you caught up in your own sweet world which might actually be a beehive.
I wonder if education can ever be an enemy of development. Can education teach people to go for bloodshed? Does education gives you the courage enough to put a face of terror to fight against injustice. I believe it does! Education is NOT all so hunky-dory. It can very well wear a mask that is dangerous. And that is the scariest part of the movie.
All this makes me wonder more that how we as society, as parents need to give our children a strong moral and civic sense so that when they attain education, it leads them to liberal thoughts and point of views and they contribute in building a developed world. And most importantly enable them to make a distinction of good and bad (which otherwise too is a very subjective world)
Overall, wonderful screenplay, brilliant dialogues, fair-good enough acting, okay-ish storyline but a powerful concept!
I think our generation must watch this because these are the times we belong to if for nothing else!
And by the end of movie I realise that there can be 2 different reasons for keeping the title so:
a. As a satire that how we behave as Buddhas in such conflicting times
b. Or let us be Buddhas in such a conflicting times
(left to interpretations and that is such a big turn-on for me in a movie)
