“My demons, though quiet, are never quite silenced.
They wait patiently for a reason to wake, for a reason to creep under my skin, duly unaware.”
We all hold our personal versions of heaven and hell, for me – it accounts for the day I no longer can be my usual self, say what I want to and be what I wish to be; that’s my calling for hell.
Paatal Lok, an Amazon Prime web series, is the definition of this very concept, the idea of our personal versions of heaven and hell. This web series is a landmark for a heightened yet a good version of content and characterisation which brings together a story which comes out to be in the curtains, with the deepest and the most detailed cues – that’s how it changes everything.
This series sets an indelible impression in the minds of the viewer and after a very long time. It isn’t about the star-cast because, truth be told, this wasn’t a product of perfect faces but rather a product of hard-working people who knew what they were to do once they set foot right in front of the camera and that’s what brings this series to light with its unconventional set of perfect expression of the content in hand.
The creative minds behind this series are to be equally appreciated to tackle onto multiple characterisations with the same level of importance as one may never go without the other to curate the perfect assassination of the Indian audience and their rigidity for the content they choose to consume. Hence, the perfect versions of every story with the minute details thread together in the complete framework of perfect yet untouched locations and to surface the brilliance of work is everything we needed to kill the lockdown blues, but there’s a lot more to the series.
- The History of Violence
We always choose to see the convenient angle to the story which suffices our thirst to closure while there’s a deeper end to every person and its story but the depiction of the never-ending cycle of violence is truly heart-wrenching. Somewhere, it is true. We all find ourselves to be okay with violence to a certain extent because we’ve been taught to be that way. The idea of domestic violence too is a product of this normalisation which has grown out of patriarchy and so is gang violence amidst small districts because its okay to portray power with on the stage of the violence. The severe the crime, the more idea of power is established amidst the subordinates and hence, the chain continues in the greed to be better and seem more dangerous than the last time. - Media and TRP’s
Somehow, the concept of media is no longer about being the fourth pillar of democracy and surfacing the truth; it’s rather about being a puppet to the ruling government and every person who believes to change that is only to bare consequences of the career which will never begin. As a student of journalism, it not only saddens me but also makes me question whether the freedom of the press is debatable enough in the traditional world of media or is it just something they no longer wish to practice amidst pressurisation from the authorities or freewill to build onto TRPs because while it might not telecast the truth, it does telecast a mutilated version of reality that brings along a TRP to their benefit changing the game to another dynamic. Hence, tagging the idea to be a concept of the new media or the liberals because they still choose to speak up freely only to end up like Gauri Lankesh and with this context – Sanjeev Mehra from Paatal Lok. Did we really sign up for this? - Is casteism in the past?
This series has highlighted the corners of India which has either been unnoticed or something we’ve decided to not look at out of privilege or choice. Being in the cradle which is rocked by the pacifiers of urbanisation, we believe casteism to be ancient history but the mirror which is shown to the society on the games of this series and the character of Tope Singh is something that can neither be denied nor defined under the constitution and yet we practice it shamelessly in the world of politics and power. - The Islamophobic version of India
The India we chose to live in was not a product of religious rivalry, rather it was a product of free will and choice, to practice our own beliefs and customs. The conservatives do argue about the idea of secularism to be in existence into a later world, but they fail to recognise the pre-partitioned India when a Muslim was never a terrorist and a Hindu was never blood-thirsty of the next-door neighbour who sent in sewai and biryani and somehow, being a Muslim wasn’t called upon so derogatorily that it seemed to be an abuse. This is what has come alive with Kabir M. and Imran Ansari. They are two sides of the same community but bare the hate of which wasn’t even born out of them but the society which continues to be islamophobic with all its stereotypes.
- Power – the perfect enemy to mankind.
The web series is a portrayal of the evil that rises within a man in the desire of unbeatable power. It not only makes you kill the people who might hinder your way but also make your own demons outshine you and the good within along with the hypocrisy which stabilizes in you and the set example of the world of Indian politics is not only perfect but showcases everything which is true. Everything that happens behind the scenes to outcast one topic from another only to divert the flow of the storytelling structure is what somehow the gist of this series. - The Greed of Medals and Promotions
Indian cinema has set out a perfect portrayal of fake encounters, elongated gist to short cut stories and the idea of higher orders all in the name of the much-awaited promotion, an honorary medal and a better seat of power to sit on. The police personnel have been showcased in all kind of lights and since there has been no series opposition to this picturisation, therefore it might just be considered to be the hard reality but the question is – is it okay to compromise the security of the nation in the name of personal gain factors because then, isn’t it better if we close down our security in our own hands than lookout for a fake sense of security in the people who might give in to higher orders only to save themselves from the rat trap of the system.
This series is not only an eye-opener but also happens to speak a lot about what happens between the ‘deranged’ lanes and forgotten corners of the country. While globalisation, urbanisation and the concept of development is what we continue to emphasis on, who really is accountable for everything that really isn’t changing or holds a pretence of revolutionising a better tomorrow?
Think about it.