Bollywood Movie Mimics Real Life Events

I can't imagine what it would be like to have either one of my parents commit suicide in order for the rest of my family to live comfortable, or even just get by. Well in Aamir Khan's new film "Peepli Live" it is just that.

The movie, fictional of course follows a farmer in India, who cannot repay a loan and may have to commit suicide in order to save his land and family. If this happens, then through a government program, they will receive a sizable amount of money. But this fictional story mimics that of real life and what takes place India.

India, is currently in a fight with another Asian country; China for the economic super power of the world (China has just recently taken the #2 spot.) So, with that being said-- I'm sure you are wondering why  some Indians may have to kill themselves in order to give their family a better life? Although, both China and India are economically well off, there are still a majority of the country that's suffering.

Are you surprised? Well don't be, these two Asian giants, use to make up half the world's economy. In terms of size and population, each is a continent of it's own. But they have a huge population and the majority live under the poverty line.

"Peepli Live" as I mentioned is fictional, as is it's village "Peepli" and it's people--but the staggering story behind what will take place is all too real.

"It's like an epidemic," says Aamir Khan, the Bollywood veteran who produced Peepli Live. Between 1991 and 2001 alone, 200,000 farmers took their own lives, he says. "That's really a scary and heartbreaking thought."

If you did your research on India, you'd know it is filled with tons of culture, tradition and history and any director or writer would be in heaven, to portray those things. But most Indian movies are filled with glitz, glamour and romance--hardly ever do you see real life take effect. However, Aamir Khan (a well known actor in Asia, wanted to take a different route, and that he did in "Peepli Live")

The movie goes out side the box of it's mainstream Bollywood movie, it takes on politics and the media, showing both in a light that Hindi-films will dare not touch. Sad, yet funny the movie gives the inside look to a epidemic that has been taking place in India for centuries.

When you think of India, it's about the clothes, food and movies. All glamour and glitz, but the sad part about all of this is that India--although fighting to become a super power, it's population of poverty is extremely high.  And this movie by Khan, he touches that and much more.Showing what a majority of the world don't have a clue about, he gives the real story of a people who struggle, while the country grows richer and richer.

The movie, competed in the Sundance Film Festival, the first film from India to achieve this honor. It received an 'A' adult certificate in India for language use. The movie was picked up by specialty German distribution company Rapid Eye Movies for a special screening at the Berlin International Film Festival. So far it has grossed 4.62 million.