When Hari Got Married

This is going to be a very difficult one to write.  While I love this genre of cinema i.e. The Documentary, writing about the story can be completed in one line, in this case – The story of the wedding of a Taxi Driver in a village of Himachal Pradesh.  Well, I have to write more, so I am going to give it a shot and hope that it comes out as a well written article and not a meek attempt.

Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam are documentary film makers.  Specialists in their own right.  A fair statement to make, considering that they have made 14 of them since 1985.  And my first experience with their brand of documentaries passed off quite uneventfully. Enough to ensure that I will take a look at the others if I get an opportunity. However, not enough to make me go looking for their work to the far corners of the world.

However, I would not be fair in describing the story in just one line as I did above.  Because Tenzing and Ritu actually cover a lot more during the course of their journey.  I did walk in a couple of minutes late but I am quite certain I didn’t miss too much.  I could easily make out that the story is set somewhere in Himachal Pradesh and the trailers had given me a good enough idea that it was about a Taxi Driver called Hari.

The documentary covers the finer aspects of a lower middle class wedding up in the hills for sure.  It gives you an insight into the customs which are weird and sometimes not so weird.  So, the next time, if and when you get the opportunity to attend one, you will not be too grossed out with the former.

However, what I really appreciated about the work is the aspects other than the wedding that the 2 makers have covered.  The absolute loss of confidence of the lower middle class on politics and politicians.  Their experiences with how contracts are given to the wrong people resulting in buildings collapsing in under 5 years.  Their lack of confidence in the upcoming future.

The couple also covers some positives such as the changing world in rural India from a time where weddings were solely “arranged” like in the case of Hari to a time where hope exists on the girl at least having a say in the wedding process.  It touches upon an aspect that continues to bother me and a lot of this country about how people want a boy child but is encouraging with Hari and his wife welcoming their first born – Anjali.

In many ways, When Hari Got Married, is the kind of documentary that makes you feel that this genre is vastly under promoted or spoken about in this country.  There is a lot that documentaries can do both from a perspective of entertainment and for ensuring that a message is passed on to the viewers at large.  I hope we see more of this in the coming days.  For now, this one gets 6 on 10 from my side.  Completes a marginally above average week for India at the movies.

Watch the trailer on http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gGKt_ugLP0