Much accolades have been pored in to the recent Film Lageraho Munnbai on account that it promoted Gandhian principles and philosophy. Since our nation considering Gandhi as our father, everybody accepted the film whole-heartedly. No doubt it was a good movie, But I differ from the popular view that it promote Gandhian philosophy on the contrary it is Anti-Gandhian,
Generally there are two types of violence, one is violence towards foreign body another is violence towards own body. Majority people indulge in violence towards foreign body, their fight is against others%u2019 body, and they try to win over it. Sports also is a type of violence over foreign body collectively or individually and people get satisfied if they overcome the physical strength of others%u2019 body. Or they make some rules so that violence can be civilized. Other type of violence is towards own body, which certain sadhu%u2019s are indulging. Hurt own body and get pity from the other people. Both ways people enjoy violence. According to Osho Rajnish, Gandhi was in the second category, who indulged in violence against own body. A thief point dagger against a person and say give your wallet or I will Kill you. A Gandhian say, give my rights or I will kill myself. Both are violence in different form. Gandhi has used non-violence as a weapon and remember weapons are used only for violence and not for peace.
In the beginning the character Munnabai was a violent in the first category. He did dadagiri to earn his living. Then he fell in love. The feeling of love taken his violence also inward, hence from Dadagiri he turned to Gandhigiri, from one extreme to another extreme. One side he was ready to kill for his gain, another side he was ready to sacrifice himself for gain. The irony is one cannot sacrifice for self gain, it is like the old saying that %u201C I am ready to even die for living%u201D. How can one die and live at a time. The desire is a barrier between a doing and sacrifice. Either it is a surrender for nothing, or violence for gain. But Munna was sacrificing for gain. He wanted to get his girl friend back, he wanted to get girlfriend%u2019s bungalow back etc. From his usual course of violence he adopted new violence of self sacrifice for gain. You give me, otherwise I will kill myself. The method used is the same %u201Cviolence%u201D and tool is same the %u201Cthreat%u201D. First it was threat to outsiders, second it is threat to self. First it was causing fear of physical injury to others, second it was causing fear of guilt in the mind of others. One is a physical injury and other is a psychological injury. And psychological injury is more grievous. If one slap you, you may retaliate and forget about it, but if one insult you wordily, you will never forget it, you will keep till you get an opportunity. So Munna transformed from physical threat to mental threat to get the things done.
At the third stage, Munna transcend from both form of violence. He drop violence against self also realizing its uselessness, understood that it was his hallucination that he can get his desires fulfilled by indulging in mental threat. His earlier job of physical threat failed hence he adopted new method now he realized that even this mental threat also is a failure. He then drops violence against self and even the desires. Now this is very important, I don%u2019t know whether it was done by the producers deliberately or not, but it makes the film class apart. Munna drops even his desires, and once he drops desires he become compassionate. Real compassion arise from him even for his rival, and this compassion save his rival from getting ridiculed in the public. What is important here is Munna helped his rival not anticipating any gain, he did it for the sake of just doing it. And when he did something out of compassion without expecting any result out of it, as he by then dropped even his desires, the un-expected happened. He got some gifts, which were not desired at that time. Remember, he could have got it by indulging his earlier job of violence either way, but there he would have missed compassion, he would have to protect from retaliation after fulfilling his desires. Here the things were gifted by the outsiders out of love and not because of fear of physical injury or guilt. The film clearly succeeds in proving that it is not violence of either nature that succeeds but compassion without any desire, which succeeds, and then whatever gained is gifts as it was not a work for success and victory but was gift came for some work done but not from the work done with desire to achieve it, and it is anti-gandhian. Gandhigiri is usage of non-violence as tool for gain. Munna left Gandhigiri, as a symbol of dropping Gandhigiri he has seen with alcohol and surrendered to the destiny. He left all the desires and got every thing. Gandhigiri is a stage of struggle; it is struggle for some personal gain or for gain for others. Munna went beyond such struggle and left the struggle also along with desires and surrendered to the destiny then happened a new person, for whom the nature is ready to give everything. Lageraho%u2026.. Munnabai.
RE:Munna is antiGandhian and not Pro Gandhian
by r s on Apr 17, 2007 05:49 PM Permalink
Please first get your facts right...and then post your comment in the right blog....This was meant for Madhuri and u kept on talking about Munaa and Gandhi...Go get a life dear and better write short post next time.. no one goin to pay u high for long posts...
