2019 is a small year for Indian films, from the realistic-themed "Super 30" to the remake of "Bharata" (that is, "In the Name of the Country"), and then to the star-studded epic blockbuster "Karank". The films were not as good as expected, and some were even sloppy, so that I once thought that there were no high-quality Indian commercial films last year.
But in fact, I was wrong!
Some time ago, on the recommendation of a friend, I saw a very good Indian film produced last year - "Bala", this work proves that Indian films are still outstanding!
The protagonist of the story, Bara, is handsome and good at singing and dancing since he was a child. He is a very charming boy, especially his thick black and flowing hair makes him look elegant, which makes Bara always complacent.
Therefore, he couldn't help but be a little arrogant, and always liked to mock his neighbor and classmate Latik, who was a dark-skinned little girl in India, where whiteness is extremely beautiful (the country that sells the world's number one whitening product) , the black girl is almost the same as... the ugly girl.
Bara's attitude annoyed Latick very much. You must know that she always thought they were good friends, and she often lent Bara her homework!
But things are unpredictable, Latik is still a black girl when he grows up, and Bara is no longer a handsome guy.
He suffered severe hair loss. He lost 45% of his hair volume when he was only 25 years old, and his hairline was still retreating rapidly. Bala, with sparse hair, looked very funny. He was no longer the crowd. The focus of envy has become the object of ridicule in the neighborhood, and even his girlfriend who has been with him since middle school has left him. As Bara himself said, this treatment is like changing from a first-line superstar to an extra, which is simply heaven and earth. different!
In order to restore his former glory, Bara began a long journey of "seeking hair", from advanced hair transplant technology to ancient religious prayers, from pungent ginger to stench of cow dung, he tried everything, but still could not solve the problem , the jokes made a lot of trouble.
What's more interesting is that Barra is actually a salesman of whitening products. Every time he sells, he has to belittle dark-skinned girls, just to encourage them to buy his own products, which makes Latik very uncomfortable. Shame, she took off Bara's hat in public, humiliated him as a bald head, and dared to be so arrogant, making Bara embarrassed.
The first half of the movie is full of laughs and hilarious, especially Bala's plight is the most funny - a handsome guy who used to laugh at others' ugly, turned into an ugly guy who everyone laughed at. Is this the legendary retribution? ?
While making people laugh, the film actually raises a serious and realistic question. It is human nature to love beauty. Today, with more and more abundant material life, people are more and more willing to invest in appearance, so that the development of the beauty industry It is almost popular, but do we realize that excessive pursuit of external beauty actually means discrimination against ugliness. Is appearance really justice?
And who defines the standard of beauty? As Latik has always raised the question, black is a normal skin color, given by nature (gods), what is wrong with it? Barra's hair loss, although a pathological condition, is also cause for action, and it is not entirely his fault. Why should people who have done nothing wrong be punished by group ridicule?
In order to more sharply show the bad influence of society's discrimination on ugly people, the character of the protagonist Bara is quite ingeniously put into dual identities - the perpetrator and the victim, which leads to a kind of self-reflection. : If you don't experience it yourself, you may never know how terrible the malice from this world is to those who are classified as ugly, and can even force them to change their appearance by any means to the point of being mad, just like Bara In that way, tossing up and down in religious superstition and fetid cow dung, tossing and dying, while the perpetrator thinks that making fun of ugly people is just a harmless joke.
The joys and sorrows of human beings are indeed incompatible.
Eager to get rid of the status quo, Barra finally chose to wear a wig and lied to the outside world that he had regrown his hair through a mysterious prescription. It was at this time that he fell in love with the new beauty net red rice salad on Douyin.
Barra pursued Misala enthusiastically through work, and with her own charm, she quickly gained a heart, and the two entered the marriage hall. However, the day after the wedding, Misala found out that Bara was bald and left immediately. Subsequently, Bara came to the door to plead hard, but to no avail.
Soon, Mishara took Barra to court, saying that he cheated on the marriage and demanded that the marriage be annulled. Barra, who wanted to save face, was reluctant to ask others for help, and Latik, a lawyer, stepped forward and became his defense lawyer.
In court, Latik accused Misala of being superficial and building love on a few hairs, while the opposing lawyer accused Bala of bad character and used fraudulent means to coax Misala into marriage. The moral predicament of the marriage is starkly exposed - who is at fault?
At this time, the film also came to its climax.
Under Latik's powerful eloquence offensive, Misara, who was gradually at a disadvantage, cried and complained that because she had no specialties, she was always most proud of her beauty, so she was a deep face control and wanted to find a handsome guy. Is this wrong? This softened Bara, who once thought he was reasonable, and then Misala's words hit his soul directly, "The mirror in Bara's house will always cover the upper part, the bald head that even he himself can't accept, But forcing me to accept it, is this fair?"
If it is said that everyone has the right to demand due respect, and no one can trample their dignity at will, then everyone also has the right to set their own standards for mate selection, and no one can kidnap their morality and seek love, even if Ta The standard of mate selection is superficial, vulgar, based on only a few hairs. Because love is not the same as morality in the public sphere, it is a private emotion, not something to be given for granted.
Let's take a step back, if marriage can't be built on a few heads, it can't be built on a lie, especially when Barra himself cares so much about those few hairs, how can he have the right to let others not mind, as the saying goes, Do not do what you want to others!
Bara, who suddenly woke up, immediately agreed to dissolve the engagement, and full of sincere wishes for Misala, that they would find a handsome husband in the future, and the two shook hands to make peace.
Returning to work, Barra began to sell whitening products again, and made derogatory remarks to dark-skinned girls as usual. As he talked, he thought of his childhood friend Latik. Latik has always been so kind to him, but he always makes fun of him, but even so, when he is in a difficult situation, Latik still does not hesitate to help him. In order to help him win back the girl he loves, Latik. Ke even went to court to open up the scars of being discriminated against.
Thinking about it, Barra seemed to see Latik's smiling face. For the first time, he discovered that although this black girl did not have the beauty of secular standards, she had a refined and beautiful soul. Although he looks like a fairy, he is actually just an ordinary person.
Bara, who sensed that she was feeling budding, flew to Latik's house and found that she had been engaged to a handsome guy who had been on a blind date for a long time. Bara didn't give up, but she dared to show her intentions. Latik smiled and still refused. For Bara, she has always been just a friendship.
The black girl has turned around beautifully.
Barra did not become decadent because of this, but inspired by Latik's always confident attitude towards life, he switched to a talk show that he has always liked, and showed his bald head generously. He told people that it doesn't matter if no one loves him, because he loves him. You are the most important.
The film not only criticizes the wrong aesthetic standards and the society's discrimination against ugly people, but also tells all the groups classified as ugly people: what you have to do is not to blindly criticize people's prejudice, let alone force others to love you, but to accept yourself, This is the ultimate solution to the distress. When you accept yourself, you will find that all spiritual constraints will be gone, and life will be happier than ever!
In the past, there were always two modes for similar films. One was to let the ugly man chase the beautiful girl, which was like an inspirational chicken soup. All of them fall into a misunderstanding: a person must be married to be successful - this is obviously wrong, personal value is not reflected by marriage, and people do not necessarily have to get married.
The refined ending of "Bala" can be said to conform to the current trend very well.
From such a small topic of hair loss, it can talk about aesthetic standards, public discrimination, marriage morality, love and lies, and individual values, and each of them is tightly engaged and seamlessly switched, "Bala" is really not simple. The last time an Indian comedy that could discuss realistic topics so thoroughly and interlockingly was back to "Starting Line" in 2017!
After almost a year of hiatus, "Bala" has rekindled my passion for Indian cinema and is definitely the best commercial film of 2019.
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