Mersal - my Take !!

    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.