Eeb Allay Ooo is presented by acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Kashyap.
Ever since I saw Prateek Vats's social satire Eeb Allay Ooo!, something stayed with me. I don't know what. Eeb Allay Ooo!, which I watched as a part of We Are One: A Global Film Festival by YouTube, explores the plight of migrants and their vulnerability. With the migrant crisis coming to the surface during the lockdown, Eeb Allay Ooo! is an insight into the life of the working class and their desperation to earn few bucks. Young unskilled youth, who march their way to Delhi from their villages, are mostly unaware of the challenges they will be facing. Eeb Allay Ooo! reflects how the working class of the country has continued to engage in petty works with no job security, low pay and no respect. Prateek Vats' film draws a sharp line between the two worlds that exist. Without passing judgment, Eeb Allay Ooo! traverses from the Lutyens' Delhi to narrow lanes of those areas that we see only from a distance.
Eeb Allay Ooo!, presented by acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, premiered at Pingyao in China before it was shown at the Mumbai Film Festival.
Vats' film is on the monkey menance in Lutyen’s Delhi, North and South Block, the prime location of all government offices. This monkey problem, which is common in Delhi, has created a job opportunity in which one is required to make a sound of Eeb-Allay-Ooo -- the sound of langurs, the natural enemies of the macaque monkies.
Anjani (Shardul Bhardwaj) plays the faint-hearted migrant, who is forced to do this contractual 'government' job. Despite not being able to put his heart and soul into the work, he has been doing it. Anjani finds innovative methods to shoo the monkeys away, only to find himself in trouble each and every time. The desperation to earn livelihood in a different city drives Anjani into despair, transforming him into another world, a liberating one.
Vulnerability Of Human Life
Eeb Allay Ooo! reflects how vulnerable we all are and most importantly quite easily replaceable. With tens of thousands juggling for a handful of jobs comes exploitation of workers (also those working in high-rise corporate offices). Anjani is made to feel guilty of having a tea break for a few minutes. Though he tries to put his points before guruji (his contractor), only to give up because of his own vulnerability. Eeb Allay Ooo! will leave you uncomfortable by portraying the sheer value of human life, especially, those who have been pushed at the edge of the social diagram.
The Two Worlds
Through the story of a city's power corridor rattled by monkeys, Eeb Allay Ooo! talks about the disparity that is deep-rooted. The disparity that goes unnoticed because we don't want to. The workers rendering their services in these posh areas (or any other location) often witness the bitterness and humiliation. This comes from the lack of empathy. When Anjani tries to convince a government employee not to feed monkeys, he threatens him by dialling to his contractor. One more scene where Anjani's pregnant sister (played effortlessly by Nutan Sinha) requests some more time to complete the delivery orders throws light on how humans are failing on the very humanitarian ground. The sense of pride that comes with such acts of opression is the by-product of insensitivity.
The divisive nature of the society also comes to the forefront when Mahender (Anjani's friend, played by real monkey repeller Mahender Nath) and Anjani are at a party to assure no disturbance by simians.
The Desperation
Humans are desperate and the desperation grows when one is left with no choice. Well! for the working class, it is a desperation to meet their daily needs. It is an everyday struggle to have something on their plate when they go back home. Eeb Allay Ooo! sums up the world of the marginalised section and the blind eye that has been turned to it. Anjani, who doesn't know how to cook, has no skills to be a plumber or electrician and doesn't want to be a sweeper, go through the congested lanes of Old Delhi to find any odd job.