I have read Prayag Akbar’s novel ‘Leila’. It is an impressive attempt. Netflix series ‘Leila’ takes basic caricature of the plot of the novel as an inspiration and then charts territory of its own. It should not be thought of as a creation based on novel. One can appreciate ‘Leila’ better without such foreknowledge, I can say so by my experience.
Technology driven dystopia is rarely handled in Indian films or series. (One example I remember is ‘Matrubhumi’ which was a powerful concept. But it was social dystopia.) May be, the fact that we are not a society living at the cutting edge of technology makes dystopia set in Indian context unbelievable. ‘Leila’ too suffers from this disbelief. But even with such disbelief, ‘Leila’ could have become our own step towards ‘Handmaid’s tale’ or ‘Black Mirror’. But to do that, ‘Leila’ should have avoided the desire to use current prevalent (seemingly) liberal disdain towards nationalistic right politics as a model of future. But ‘Leila’ goes for the easy bet of being lauded in (seemingly) liberal echo chambers and becoming a partially satisfying experience.
The etch of the directors of movie or series to comment on our lives is understandable. That’s what one seeks from a good movie. But when director tries to sell a movie made up of cliched stereotypes, it becomes more of a propaganda. Why nationalism must have fascist tendencies? Why a typical right-wing leader is highly to be a hypocrite? It is not that ‘Leila’ falls directly in this trp. At some places, it rises unexpectedly, like when a high-placed leader (with name and face chosen strategically in my opinion!) reveals liking for Faiz. But generally, to sustain its structure of popular left-liberal stereotypes, story ends up surviving on unrealistic supports, like system of children messengers or a member of resistance maintaining an influential presence in a regime which is brutal, authoritarian and tech-savvy in surveillance techniques. The novel was much more solid and focused attempt at dystopia than this inspired one.
There are some important directions to explore dystopia, especially in Indian context. One is of technologically sophisticated surveillance state with deep entrenched consumerism. We are living increasingly deeper in web of CCTVs and smartphones. That itself is a terrifying possibility once we consider how much trace each of our action generates. Second, environmental, especially water-based disaster. Third, a society with hardening of social group boundaries. The third one is weakest of the three. India has been an increasingly less uneasy truce of social identities. The hypothesis of increasing social tensions does not stand with the verdict of recent general election. (I see the counter-point of increasing social group based violence or trolling. But I think society as a whole is better-off once violence is out and not latent. We have underlined social groups and after some hiccups, we will learn to live with them. At least that's how I project it after current election result.)The strong national narrative along with increasingly consumerist society is emerging. Such society likes to outsource or outplace violence, away from the territory, like US has been doing.
The attempt by ‘Leila’ to handle all directions of dystopia at once is laudable but hasn’t worked. It is better to handle single direction like ‘Handmaid’s tale’ or ‘Black Mirror’ or ‘Children of Men’ to explore possibilities more convincingly. I wish best for possible next season of ‘Leila’, but I will not be keeping high hopes of being thrilled.
Technology driven dystopia is rarely handled in Indian films or series. (One example I remember is ‘Matrubhumi’ which was a powerful concept. But it was social dystopia.) May be, the fact that we are not a society living at the cutting edge of technology makes dystopia set in Indian context unbelievable. ‘Leila’ too suffers from this disbelief. But even with such disbelief, ‘Leila’ could have become our own step towards ‘Handmaid’s tale’ or ‘Black Mirror’. But to do that, ‘Leila’ should have avoided the desire to use current prevalent (seemingly) liberal disdain towards nationalistic right politics as a model of future. But ‘Leila’ goes for the easy bet of being lauded in (seemingly) liberal echo chambers and becoming a partially satisfying experience.
The etch of the directors of movie or series to comment on our lives is understandable. That’s what one seeks from a good movie. But when director tries to sell a movie made up of cliched stereotypes, it becomes more of a propaganda. Why nationalism must have fascist tendencies? Why a typical right-wing leader is highly to be a hypocrite? It is not that ‘Leila’ falls directly in this trp. At some places, it rises unexpectedly, like when a high-placed leader (with name and face chosen strategically in my opinion!) reveals liking for Faiz. But generally, to sustain its structure of popular left-liberal stereotypes, story ends up surviving on unrealistic supports, like system of children messengers or a member of resistance maintaining an influential presence in a regime which is brutal, authoritarian and tech-savvy in surveillance techniques. The novel was much more solid and focused attempt at dystopia than this inspired one.
There are some important directions to explore dystopia, especially in Indian context. One is of technologically sophisticated surveillance state with deep entrenched consumerism. We are living increasingly deeper in web of CCTVs and smartphones. That itself is a terrifying possibility once we consider how much trace each of our action generates. Second, environmental, especially water-based disaster. Third, a society with hardening of social group boundaries. The third one is weakest of the three. India has been an increasingly less uneasy truce of social identities. The hypothesis of increasing social tensions does not stand with the verdict of recent general election. (I see the counter-point of increasing social group based violence or trolling. But I think society as a whole is better-off once violence is out and not latent. We have underlined social groups and after some hiccups, we will learn to live with them. At least that's how I project it after current election result.)The strong national narrative along with increasingly consumerist society is emerging. Such society likes to outsource or outplace violence, away from the territory, like US has been doing.
The attempt by ‘Leila’ to handle all directions of dystopia at once is laudable but hasn’t worked. It is better to handle single direction like ‘Handmaid’s tale’ or ‘Black Mirror’ or ‘Children of Men’ to explore possibilities more convincingly. I wish best for possible next season of ‘Leila’, but I will not be keeping high hopes of being thrilled.