The step motherly treatment meted out to Hindi journalists is a contentious issue that must be spoken about. Not just Hindi, reporters in vernacular languages are not paid well, or even respected in the newsrooms. Is it a colonial hangover? Maybe. But for Samar Kumar (played by Vikrant Massey), a Hindi journalist who aspires to transcend this social divide between Hindi-English journalists, Hindi becomes a curse.
It is a plot point where no one, absolutely no one misses a chance to take potshots at Samar being a Hindi journalist. There is no room for subtlety here. His girlfriend Shloka says “You know anyway Hindi journalists aren't expected. I am dating you because I love you”.
The Sabarmati Report: Plot
What about the subtle, not-so-obvious microaggressions Hindi journalists face every day. This prejudice is not always this blatant and on-the-face as shown in director Dheeraj Sarna's film The Sabarmati Report, based on the Godhra train-burning incident. In fact, there is no mention of differential pay, power dynamics or acts of prejudice used to discriminate against vernacular journalists.
Riddhi Dogra plays Manika Rajpurohit, an English-speaking journalist who is seen arguing with a US ambassador against the racial profiling in US post-9/11 attacks. The news of Godhra train-burning incident breaks and Manika sets off to Gujarat along with Samar, who is deputed as her cameraman.
The Sabarmati Report: Performances
Is it not hypocritical therefore that the film which claims to be in the interest of Hindi journalists plays many of Samar's grammatical and verbal English screw-ups for laughs? Where is the empathetic gaze? Why mock lack of English proficiency if you are batting in favour of vernacular languages?
Needless to say, Vikrant Massey has some audacity to appear on interviews after interviews promoting the film, claiming that there are no political undertones in the film. However, the film's politics can be seen from Mars—it's that clear. “Badlaav aane lage raaste badalne lage”, says a voiceover as visuals of PM Narendra Modi being sworn in as Gujarat CM played.
The Sabarmati Report: Writing And Direction
“Jiss mitti mein hum baithe the..”, says a voiceover as the camera plays visuals of the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. The film follows the events in a national news channel titled EBT News (which seems like a placeholder for NDTV). The channel heads suddenly want to be close to the capitalists (Mukesh Ambani, Ratan Tata, Gautam Adani), who were heavily investing in the state at that point.
While the film critiques the unholy relationship between news channels and corporates, it only demands accountability from the channels for selling out and not from the capitalists who spread political propaganda. Nevertheless, Samar grows a beard, becomes an alcoholic and loses his job because he dared to show the truth behind the Godhra incident.
The Sabarmati Report: What Works, What Doesn't
For a film that constantly talks about journalism, Samar is portrayed as a character who wants his colleague Manika to treat eye witness accounts as the gospel truth without confirming the same with multiple sources. In fact, he plays the judge, the Jury and the executioner and the film leaves no chance for the viewer to not dislike Manika.
Of course Manika says “Don't bother, I won't remember” when an intern who looks upto her as much greets her. The character is so evil that they might as well give this English-speaking sellout woman journalist devil horns at this point. Raashii Khanna plays Amrita Gill, a journalist who looks upto Manika and in the most obvious way possible, has a change of heart.
Exactly how can one expect a film with clear-cut political undertones to portray the objective truth when it very clearly has biases which are evident from the many montages and voiceovers? Watch The Sabarmati Report with a fact-checking app.
Star rating: 1 / 5 stars
The Sabarmati Report is now playing in theaters.
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