Reading: Paatal Lok S2

Superheroes in checked shirts

In the movies we watched as kids, there were the heroes who rode horses and fought with swords, and there were heroes who disco danced and fired machine guns.

Arun Bhaiya (Mr. India, 1987) did none of that. He would always be wearing a beige jacket and a cricket hat. With his meagre earnings as a violin teacher, he was forever behind in paying the rent. He ran such long bills because his home was also a hostel for orphaned children.

In the mornings, Arun Bhaiya would wake the children up, get them ready for school and at night-time, he would play the violin and tuck them into bed.

Even before he found the bracelet which gave him the power to turn invisible, Arun Bhaiya was already nothing more than an ordinary bystander. He would repeatedly get pushed around by his landlord and the grocery shop owner. In fact, the first time he met Seema, she mistook him to be a pickpocket who had just gotten out of jail.

That's Arun Bhaiya - so ordinary that he could be anyone.

With the bracelet on his wrist, he turned fully invisible and took it upon himself to serve justice – first, to the vile powerful people and then, to the forsaken poor people. In that memorable scene, an entire table of exquisite dishes from a posh restaurant comes floating in the air and lands in front of a family living on the street who are too stunned and fearful to even savour that miracle.

Back then, my father used to be an active member of the Rotary Club. The club had presented him with an insignia that he kept on his table. It had this quote by Mahatma Gandhi.

‘Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and the weakest man [woman] whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him [her]. Will he [she] gain anything by it? Will it restore him [her] to a control over his [her] own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj [freedom] for the hungry and spiritually starving millions?

Then you will find your doubts and your self melt away.’

As a child, every time I read it this quote, the faces of that homeless family from Mr. India would flash in front of my eyes.

In the closing moments of Paatal Lok Season 2, Hathiram Chaudhary confesses to Narcotics officer Virk that he has had enough of police work. Although Hathiram was a senior to Virk at the police training academy, Virk has now superseded him by many levels. At first, Virk seems moved on seeing Hathiram letting his guard down, but still, Virk does not let a chance to show his superiority get away so easily.

He says to Hathiram, ‘You were a better officer than me, Chaudhary. But I always knew I would get ahead of you. This System is like a boat - we all know it has holes in it and we all know it is sinking. You’re one of those dumbfucks who is trying to save the boat! While I am just saving myself.’

It’s not that Hathiram does not have ambitions. He is not at all pleased about the likes of Virk getting ahead of him. He feels bitter about not getting due recognition for his work. Maybe he even craves for a high profile case which could boost his career.

But that's not why he takes up this case. He takes it up because a poor village woman with a young child comes to the station desperately seeking police help in looking for her missing husband - a migrant worker from Bihar.

When that woman meets with an accident, Hathiram sits all night outside the hospital ward with her child doing his police work and ensuring their safety. That's the only way he knows to do his work. Putting all of his six-footer body on the line.

A drinking man with an overgrown paunch, it's not action-hero stuff when Hathiram goes chasing on foot. His fights are outright desperate. He takes blows to his face, he falls with a thud, he howls without a sound, and he limps on - in his checked shirt, grey trousers, white sneakers, riding on a motorcycle that feels a few sizes too small for him.

The invisibility bracelet gives Arun Bhaiya the power to turn into a vigilante and the police badge gives Hathiram the power to deliver justice – both within and beyond the System.

But their superpower is that they care.

Once they realise that they hold some power, they must have put themselves through something like the Gandhi’s test to figure out how to wield that power responsibly.

Think about it - what do the leading men in our movies usually care about?

All their care and concern are usually about themselves – their work, their lovers, their family, their honour, their friends, their nation, their planet, their spaceship and so on.

Which is what makes these two heroes stand out from the rest.

They use their powers to care for the last person standing in the line – the weakest, the most vulnerable and the one who has nothing to give in return. There are no witnesses to their deeds and there is no glory to look forward to.

And they put all their might to make sure that no one is left behind feeling helpless.

Nope, not on their watch.

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If you enjoyed Paatal Lok S2, I recommend you take the time to watch this interview with actors Jaideep Ahlawat and Tillotama Shome. I loved how their character arcs and their personal lives overlapped in this conversation.