Piku: Not all that

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Resident_Evil

@Resident_Evil

Rocker

+ 2

Posted: 9 years ago

#41

Actually the movie was PRETTY good and interesting at the same time. Amitabh was phenomenal, Irfan was the same as he is in all of his movie, while DP did a pretty good job at portraying a mature character. You can actually feel DP's frustration and love for her father at the same time.

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return_to_hades

@return_to_hades

Stunner

+ 6

Posted: 9 years ago

#42

Originally posted by: Vedika211
Hello.
First of all, its perfectly fine that you didn't like the movie or didn't think much of it. I'm just posting here to extend the discussion, rather than 'prove you wrong' :)
I think her being rude to drivers serves two purposes. Firstly, purely at the level of the script, it makes it possible that Rana is the one who drives them. As scriptwriter, Juhi could have shown that Piku is great to the drivers and Rana falls for her beauty and decides to drive her, but that wouldn't have been as interesting. Perhaps she could have found another alternative for creating a situation wherein it is he who drives them.
Secondly, it also serves as social commentary. Social relationships are complex, especially with people whose lives are economically and socially inferior to yours. In Western societies, a lot of people do not really get to interact with such lives everyday as people do in other parts of the world, whether as servants, drivers and so on. These everyday interactions then make some sorts of behaviour normalised over time. This is not to say that there is no power or hierarchy there, simply to say that certain hierarchies get encoded. Piku is terrible to the drivers. At the same time, Rana refuses to drive with the servant sitting beside him.
And in real life Delhi, these relationships are even more complex - women can be rude to drivers but then also depend on these drivers. Sometimes these men can be perpetrators of violence, especially sexual. I've seen female friends in India who have learnt to be assertive in social situations by being aggressive - because there isn't any other space/way for them to be assertive. Over many years, this becomes exactly the sort of 'keep away' persona that Piku has.

Thanks for the explanation.

A creative writer could have adjusted the script somehow to include Rana with the road trip. I like your other angle a lot though. I never thought of the social commentary angle. I am unaware of the social dynamics in India, but your explanation makes a lot of sense. It does not justify Piku's behavior but does give it perspective. While it is still jarring to see her rudeness, I can see how it adds to the authentic slice of life flavor the makers were attempting for.