Mersal – a movie
which was much talked about not just in Tamil Nadu but all over India. What was
supposed to be an average movie turned out to be a huge blockbuster due to the
controversies surrounding the film and producers should thank the politicians
for all the free publicity the movie gained. The movie talked about two things
– Medical system and GST and would like to pen my thoughts on both these
topics. They cleverly say we do not mean ‘ALL’ doctors are bad and even in the
movie Mersal there is a dialogue which says only dishonest people may get angry
at those who talk ill about doctors; I can just laugh at that dialogue thinking
how immature Atlee is when he wrote that dialogue. As a common man I have every
right to express my disappointment over the movie and I completely concede that
nothing is going to change through my blog. If I can make people ponder over
the movie after reading my blog then
they will realize what I am saying is true.
One of the
characters Vijay is donning is Dr.Maran and he comes as ‘5 rupees doctor’ and
there is no dialogue which requests people to become 5 rupees doctor but let me
go over the costs of some of the very basic essentials people use in day to day
life in India: Cost of ironing a shirt is ‘6 rupees’, cost of Tea/coffee in a
roadside shop is ’10 rupees’, ½ litre milk is ’21 rupees’; Cost to repair a tire which is punctured is
’40 rupees’; Cost of one lire petrol is ’70 rupees’ ..I can just go on and on
…Now let me go over cost of medical school. Costs of medical degree is anywhere
between 5 lakhs to 60 lakhs for 5.5 years and depends on scholarship,
Government/private college, Quota restrictions etc., One had to pursue Master’s
degree too which is another 10-70 lakhs depending on many factors. Even cost of
NEET exam is Rs.3750; This is purely the money factor and there is a herculean
effort needed to successfully complete both and the process easily takes around
8-10 years. Now after doing all of this is this even practical to say ‘5
rupees’ Doctor is a distant reality? Maybe one in thousand may do that service
who is 60+ and who does not have any commitments in life but Atlee who is a 3
films old director talking about free medical system is a biggest joke. Can
Atlee and actor Vijay declare their salary to public? Since they represent
Entertainment field can they work for 5000 rupees salary per movie?
Now let me talk about
the logic loopholes in the movie. Surgeon gets M.S degree and not M.D as
portrayed, the scene where ambulance driver and hospital staff negotiate which
hospital to go is mere illusion since ambulance of a hospital will take only to
their respective hospital. Also the way in which Doctors talk to each other
regarding operation and the way news is conveyed to Girls parents are all very
cinematic and melodramatic. Personally I got upset when the movie portrayed
checkups are scam – this coming from a mass hero would have ripple effect
amongst his fans and that dialogue alone carries so much of mileage towards
planting wrong impression regarding checkups. Vijay says medicines are 12% GST
but that is wrong – medicines do come as tax exempted and 5%; Not to forget
when mam J Jayalalitha was chief minister of TN when the whole of India was
paying tax for Insulin, Tamil Nadu was the only state which was tax exempted
for life saving medicines like Insulin. Actor Vijay portrays government
hospitals ask fee but has Actor Vijay or Director Atlee stepped into any of the
government hospitals in Tamil Nadu? Just like how foreign media showcases India
as slum, poverty celluloid always portrays Government hospitals are poor but
many would be surprised to know the many good things that is happening in
government hospitals.
Emotional outburst: One thing which I hate is
emotional outburst that happen every now and then. India witnessed a tragic
incident on December 16, 2012 – gang rape of 23 year old woman in Delhi and
whole of India was protesting regarding the incident but how many are aware of
what punishment was given to the men who was involved in this barbaric act.
Somewhat similar incidents of emotional outburst are Swathi’s murder and
Anitha’s death where people, politicians and celebrity voice their opinion but
once dust is settled everything seem to go away from people’s memory. There is a
political incentive behind celebrities voicing their opinion – when Gangai
amaran voiced opinion against Ilayaraja recently during SPB concert that is
because he was one of the contestants in RK nagar constituency and he wanted
some mileage before the election; If Kushboo is voicing her opinion against
Mersal then that is because she is representing Congress and wants to defame
BJP before the big elections coming up in December in Gujarat. As an actor
Kamal is a legend but he trying to be active in social welfare may translate
into increase of trade value for his upcoming movies Vishvaroopam 2 and Sabash
Naidu where Mr.Kamalhaasan is the producer of both the movies.
Supply chain of a movie: Movie’s business is primarily
due to the names involved in the movie – Hero, Heroine, Director, Production
House, Director etc., if we have good technicians then rates go higher and
higher. There is one variable called ‘Previous movie success’ which plays a key
role in dictating prices to various regions; Distributors buy at fancy prices
and sell it to theatre owners who again take a big gamble; When so much of
money is involved why does a section of the group get to see the movie beforehand–
atleast that way they are still taking a risk but not a gamble of buying
something which they don’t have any clue. But none of the production houses are
ready to show the movie before release since they are concerned about the
negative talk which can literally kill the movie. So end of the day people are
the victims. Also without getting the film certified how does the production
houses book theatres ? Theatres without
knowing the proper release how can open their online reservation ? This is all
an illusion to create an impact with audience of how much they are expecting
the movie whereas the process is not followed in the first place.
GST: GST is something which I am paying more
attention and I am trying to get myself up to speed on this topic. Demonetisation and GST are two biggest moves
executed by current Government and though I am not exactly sure about former
how it would pan out in long term but GST is something which will help the
nation since it is the biggest tax reform the country has seen. Government
openly admits it has earned one lakh crores each month since July 2017 and this
is huge amount of money. Well currently execution of GST is in a complete mess
and chaotic and for it to get settled with India’s literacy rate is going to
take some time. Actor Vijay talks about Singapore Healthcare system and says
its ‘Free’ but Mr.Atlee (since he wrote the dialogue) is not aware of the
funding Singapore Healthcare system gets like PF fund which are deductions from
salary of every working singaporeans. Every Singapore citizen has to have an
insurance plan like ‘Medisave’ ‘Medishied’, ‘Medifund’ etc., which are financed
from citizen’s fund and government also contributes in the form of subsidy. So
basically people pay huge taxes and hence get insurance benefits and that
cannot be classified as ‘FREE’; how many in India file Income taxes? India
ranks very low as far as percentage of people who pay Income taxes. So let us
not compare other nations since it becomes apple vs orange comparison.
Cinema must be treated like Cinema which is mere
entertainment – problem comes when directors like Atlee when they work with big
stars like Vijay dilute a social subject keeping box office in mind. I am sure
Atlee when he wrote dialogues for the film kept Vijay’s fans in mind and wrote
the dialogues since he knew which dialogue would generate claps. There is nothing
wrong since he does his job but when he takes a social subject he must handle
with authenticity. Cinema people are perfect examples of hypocrites – Actor
Karthi endorses for Bru, Suriya for Sunrise whereas their father says no to
Coffee; Aamir Khan says one must follow his/her passion in movie 3 idiots and
then forces kids to undertake something in movie Dangal; Vijay endorses for
Coke and then cries foul against the same company in movie Kathi. Mersal is a
huge box office hit and director Atlee is a big brand now but he has definitely
earned lot of wrath from section of a people and my request to directors like
Atlee is either don’t take social subjects or do it with conviction not keeping
box office in your mind.
