Renuka Vyavahare, March 27, 2019, 7:53 PM IST
3/5
Story: Through the eyes of journalist Manav Banerjee (Sharman Joshi), the film revisits the events leading up to the tragic death of Australian missionary Graham Staines. He was burnt alive along with his two children by radical Hindu activists on January 23, 1999 in Orissa. The mob who killed Staines accused him of converting the tribals to Christianity by inducement, fraudulent means.
Review: Poverty sees no religion and hunger has its own language. Faith is a choice but if it’s manipulated by humanitarian means, and helps someone survive in the bargain, can you overlook the intent behind the kind deeds? Should an agenda really matter if it’s benefiting the poor and those ostracised by the society? Also, shouldn’t those who wish to help, look beyond religion? All these questions pop into your head as you watch the recreation of a tense and tragic real life incident play out on screen.
A deeply provocative issue of ‘religious conversion’ and a brutal and barbaric hate crime that followed, forms the story of this social drama. Aneesh Daniel succeeds in bringing to light the plight of locals, who end up paying the price of religious clashes.
‘Cursed’ lepers who are alienated by their own, seek solace in the company of missionaries like Staines, but are looked upon as ‘converts’ who further deserve hate. Stephen Baldwin, whose pout is reminiscent of his brother Alec Baldwin’s , when he mimics Donald Trump on SNL, plays Staines with just the right amount of empathy and calm. Sharman does a decent job as well but his character is poorly written.
Manav seems way too ignorant, childish, naive and prejudiced to be a journalist. As a reporter, he is assigned the job of gathering evidence that proves Staines is guilty of breaking laws and indulging in forced conversion. His investigative approach towards a sensitive story that expects him to go undercover sees him announcing to the world that he is a journalist (dumbest way to get killed). He even threatens a bus conductor when the latter asks him to pay for his bus ticket. “I am a journalist. I will write against this bus of yours.” (Okay then!)
The narrative is lop-sided and portrays anyone who analyses and studies the motives of missionaries as ‘bad people’. A journalist’s job is to investigate. He should be doing that without any guilt or preconceived notions. The writing lacks balance and maturity. Here, Manav is merely made to look like a villain to be able to look transformed eventually. His psychological conversion, (from accuser to believer) lacks depth and a close observation.
Like the subject it tackles, Aneesh Daniel’s execution and Andrew Matthew’s writing seems a tad agenda driven. Instead of letting people decide for themselves, the narrative tells them what to believe and that’s a bit of a put off.
As far as Staines’ contribution to the society is concerned, he served the downtrodden for over 35 years in India. Nothing can justify violence and the brutal murders. Nothing. Not even ‘forced conversion’.
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