BATTI
GUL METER CHALU
(Synopsis/Summary and Review by Vimal Kodai)
Batti Gul Meter Chalu, (Electric
Power isn’t running, yet the Electric Meter Reader is still keeping track of the
readings) – A film featuring in the main roles, actors and actresses such as:
Shahid Kapoor (who incarnates the role of Sushil Kumar “SK” Pant),
Shraddha Kapoor (playing, Lalita Nautiyal “Nauti”), Divyendu
Sharma (who stars as Sundar Mohan Tripathi) and Yami Gautam (who
portrays lawyer, Gulnaar Rizvi); highlights the many facets of one of the
several challenges faced by rural areas inhabitants of a village known as Tehri
(found in the Northern milieus of India, in the State of Uttarakhand).
Shree Narayan Singh, the director (and directing
person) of Batti Gul Meter Chalu casts an exemplary portrayal of one of the
many dark sides of the corporate world in India while he interprets one such
case of a village known as Tehri (found in Uttarakhand, in Northern India).
He demonstrates one area of this rural part of Uttarakhand where electric power
supply is not at all very abundant, and yet, the ‘electricity bill’ proves to
be really high in its numerical digits. Why? The answer lies in the crude
reality of the corporate world of business enterprises and how some of them manage
their customers’ complaints, and how they budget their financial investments
for the sake of their enormous profits.
SK, Nauti and Sundar
SK (short for Sushil
Kumar Pant), Nauti (nickname of the character, Lalita Nautiyal) and Sundar
are lifetime friends with a bond that has no defiance to time and space—their
connection and friendship have emerged from childhood to adulthood, yet no
mistrust or misguided occurrences separate their beliefs and understandings. Unless
it is for family commitments and family duties that part their professional
goals and objectives, SK, Nauti and Sundar are threesomes who share almost
everything in matter of lifestyle, passion and mutual bonding. Their love and
friendship have been so re-known in Tehri that it has been a really
worthy privilege for the inhabitants to witness their growths in the
professional world. SK is a lawyer by profession, Nauti—a fashion designer, and
Sundar—is business-oriented. Their struggles in making their ways through life
is directly linked to their family values with their basic understandings of
family principles and family morals as their main inspiring guides. This has
them showing fearlessness and dignity towards their day to day endurances in
the field of life’s concerns. They use humour and laughter to handle many
several issues of their lives’ challenges with no denials or unnecessary
comprehension towards the several difficulties faced by the inhabitants of Tehri
(their native village’s villagers). Their parents and neighbours support them
in the daily handling of situations that require their attentions, but now that
they are grown-ups and that they are capable of managing their own lives, they
become less and less dependent on others. Their potentials and abilities do not
let themselves pass by unnoticed.
SK and Nauti (Shahid Kapoor and Shraddha Kapoor)
It so happens that despite his being a wise and
kind-hearted man, SK uses his law degree to practice his lawyer’s career
in a really unreasonable manner. He makes his daily living while being at the
service of few individuals of Tehri. However, the logic behind his earning
a living is truly unappreciated and unfair towards those who face his
unpredictable character with law suits that are minute yet ridiculous. Nauti,
on her end, makes an honest living while designing and fabricating ladies’ wear
at her Fashion Boutique. Sundar, on his side, is still finding his way
through life while attempting to setup his own business. When he finally does
make his way through becoming a successful businessman, he faces a serious
challenge with the electricity consumptions at his printing establishment. He
attempts to resolve the matter by approaching the Electric Company’s (known as SPTL’s)
customer services complaints management. His Printing establishment’s
Electric Meter is not given the right attention as neither fixture, repairs nor
replacement is being carried out by SPTL Electric Company. Instead, this
fraudulent electric company installs another Meter which has direct
surveillance access to the power usage readings of Sundar’s Printing Press.
Unaware of such an incident, but assuredly in the belief that his readings are
escalating for confirmed unfair reasons, Sundar approaches his lawyer-friend,
Sushil Kumar (SK), for support in this case of fraud. The matter is not as
simple and it is not as sweet as it appears: in the meantime, Sundar’s love for
Nauti is revealed, and reciprocally, Nauti’s love for Sundar surfaces. Sushil
Kumar Pant (SK) who has always believed that Nauti was in love with him, can’t
really bear this reality that comes out. He bluntly refuses to fight the case which
his friend (Sundar) offers him to stand by for in all the righteous manner—while
imploring him to use the ability of a true dignified lawyer. SK, in his anger
and rising hatred for his two childhood friends, rejects the case of Sundar’s
as he plunges himself in a new habit of consuming alcoholic drinks and leading
a fake lifestyle. He can’t admit that this occurrence which appears in his
life, is in fact happening for real. For some time, he finds himself lost!
After having circled SPTL’s customer services
complaints management again, and after having filed in numerous complaints
again, Sundar finds himself in a dilemma from which he does not see himself
coming out of. Nauti’s support is not sufficient to allow him to make up his
mind. He doesn’t know how to handle his humongous electricity bills as it is
obvious that either the readings have been falsified, or there has been a
serious error from the Electric Meter readings.
The
case is certainly ‘a case’ that can be taken to court and it can be won with
due respect to the facts and truthful statements produced at the court, but
instead, with time restraints, Sundar can’t really deal with this intense
turmoil whereby he can’t really cope with it. Soon, his death is being
pronounced at the cliffs of the banks of the River Ganges. His motorbike has
apparently encountered a ‘weird incident’ which led to his accidental death.
The surprise of this incident is that his body is not retrieved from the river.
His cremation is been done while his friends, neighbours, relatives and close
family members are mourning his tragic passing away. Sundar’s memory lives in
the mind of his lover Nauti as the latter thinks that he was an imbecile to
have committed such an act—a presumed suicidal act. Sundar’s father, (Manilall
Tripathi), who has always regarded his son as a brave boy who was growing up
standing tall while facing challenges boldly, is deeply disturbed by the
incident as he also concludes that his beloved deceased son was a fool—he could
not face his life’s struggle and challenge while making matters better and
thereby cope with it.
SK (Sushil Kumar Pant) eventually manages to handle
the unresolved case that could not be dealt with by his very well-cherished and
very dear friend, Sundar. Now that the latter is deceased, SK feels strongly
that he has strong grounds to ‘nail’ and fight this unfair and unjust corporate
electric firm known as SPTL.
With determination, strong will-power, concrete and
solid foundations of his knowledge that is based on factual details obtained
from the unjustified practice led by this Electric firm (SPTL), SK ‘navigates
the seas’ of this court case whereby he finds his way through by making the
most of it with his humour and sense of laughter to reassure him all along the
way.
At the court, SK faces his opponent and adversary in
the robe of his lawyer counterpart, Gulnaar Rizvi (role casted by actress Yami
Gautam). Her diligent advocacy and her pleasant charm pleases SK, but the true
issue right now is not about admiration and beauty, but it is a fight of a
lifetime for the citizens of Tehri (in Uttarakhand). In fact, prior to boarding
the role of fighting for the cause of his friend, Sundar (now presumed
deceased); SK had minutely devoted his keen attention towards other complaints
directed from other faulty electric meter readings and falsified readings done
by SPTL Electric Firm. Their supportive facts and documented complaints are a
must asset to this case being fought against SPTL Electric Firm on the part of
lawyer Sushil Kumar Pant (SK).
The case’s momentum takes to its extreme highs and
lows while lawyers SK (Shahid Kapoor) and Gulnaar Rizvi (Yami Gautam)
and the presiding judge (role incarnated by Sushmita Mukherjee) lead
their way in the court room.
The
battle is almost won when from some ‘gut feeling’ moment’s downturn (or
upturn), Sundar returns to Tehri after having received treatment for his
serious injuries from a hospital found on one of the banks of River Ganges. He
appears in the courtroom where he confesses that he had indeed attempted
suicide as he had been longing to settle the matter for financial reasons without
being too keen to struggle for it against the infamous SPTL electric company…
The Cast of Batti Gul Meter Chalu
The movie, Batti Gul Meter Chalu, carries
a message that expands on one case of the mental tortures led by the corporate
world where no understanding and no comprehension are attested for by business
enterprises while they deal with their customers. Batti Gul Meter Chalu is
one such movie that does not require forceful understanding from its audience
in order to be fully acknowledged and appreciated.
