Monday, October 11, 2010

Aamir Khan's 'Peepli [Live]' Headed to the Academy Awards!




Aamir Khan's movie Peepli [Live] has been selected to represent Indian cinema in the Best Foreign Language Film category at this year's Academy Awards! This is not the first time one of Aamir's movies has made it to the prestigious Hollywood awards show as his film Lagaan was also selected, but hopefully this year Aamir's film will be selected to compete!



Aamir's Peepli Live Special screening For Bebo & Saif!
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Directed by Anusha Rizvi and produced by Aamir Khan, Peepli [Live] stars Omkar Das Manikpuri as Natha, Raghubir Yadav as Budhia, Malaika Shenoy as Nandita Malik, Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Rakesh, Shalini Vatsa as Dhaniya, Farookh Zafar as Amma, Vishal O. Sharma as Kumar Deepak and Naseeruddin Shah as the Agriculture Minister.
The film is a comic satire on politicians' and the media's reactions to farmer suicide in India. It tells the story of Natha, a poor farmer who lives in a village called Peepli in Mukhya Pradesh. Natha has a hard time making ends meet and can hardly provide for his brother Budhia, his wife Dhaniya and his mother Amma. On top of it all, Natha and Budhia often spend the little money they have on drinks and soon the family risks losing their house and land.
The Mukhya Pradesh Government calls for a by-election in order to avoid criticisms for the way they handle the extreme poverty in the area. The opposition Apna Dal Party goes after the party in power, the Sammaan Party and hopes to get rid of the Chief Minister, Ram Babu Yadav, played by Vishal O. Sharma and his Agriculture Minister, Saleem Kidwai, played by Naseeruddin Shah.
But one day Natha comes up with what he deems a brilliant idea; if he commits suicide, maybe his land and house will be saved and maybe he can even save his family who would receive money after his death thanks to a government program that helps deceased farmers' families. What follows is a pell-mell of politicians and journalists who all see their own interest in this cause instead of dealing with the real problem.
Peepli [Live] has been screened at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival in the U.S. And now it's headed to Hollywood! Do you think Aamir Khan's latest film is a good choice for India's selection for this year's Academy Awards? If you want to find out more about Aamir Khan and Peepli [Live], check out Arun and P's interviewwith the star here.