Youngistaan & O Teri Enthusiastically Cashing In The Election Fervor

Politically driven films are never the norm. Often expected to be preachy in tone, this Friday, the box office has in store two films that are attempting to cash in the election fervor in the air. To begin with, Jackky Bhagnani is looking for a return to the silver screens. Resembling somewhat the Gandhi scion, surprisingly the film seems to possess more visibly substantial matter if pitted against O Teri. The presence of the late veteran actor Farooq Sheikh is a sympathy factor for the film. So why release the film now? Perhaps there is no better time to bring to notice, the contributions and the faults of the Government. We have been romancing UPA for two sessions now and there is a need to evoke changes given the dismal state of affairs – be it the price rices, lack of jobs or the impoverished and unsafe position of women. Given the trailer, Youngistaan seems to be on the defensive trying to put across why a political heir, if given a chance, can bring about positive change. It will be interesting to watch whether the film manages to remain lucid or steps on the wrong footing.

O Teri! is massively different in its tone. Frivolous mainly, the smell of political commentary via satire is what prevails after watching the trailer. Tracing the lives of two journalists, the film is about how they stumble upon a scam. Our present government has often found itself being pressed by many scams, be it 2G scam or the Coal scam, perhaps the subtle connotation of O Teri is to humorously point out how these big frauds impacts the lives of common people the most. The lead men, Bilal Amrohi and Pulkit Samrat quite don the skin of Woodward and Bernstein but haven’t made them look very somber.

The election season is not only being used generously by Aamir Khan in Satyamev Jayate’s Season 2 where the issues being brought up must objectively be analysed in context of the Government’s apathy, but by films too. Everyone including Khan has given up their sappy tone and demands for a speedy addressing of the pressing issues at hand with the election being just round the corner. Though Youngistaan and its makers are religiously siding with those in power but portraying the young flesh as the ray of hope and optimism for the youth of India (probably hoping to pull in the youth votebank), O Teri is unabashed about using humor as a mode to unearth the filth of scams. It is yet for the audiences to see which wins as the more palatable one for viewers, but the dichotomy of pertinent thoughts at the box office is crucial in getting getting audiences to gear up for elections.

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