An Insignificant Man
Directors: Khushboo Ranka, Vinay Shukla
Rating: 3/5
A political documentary that traces the birth and journey of a new and dynamic party, An Insignificant Man is 400 hours of footage that was edited to weave a 90-minute narrative in the form of a feature film.
If you have not followed the political developments that led to the emergence of the Aam Admi Party, An Insignificant Man will be an educating journey. From the early days of the anti-corruption movement, started by Anna Hazare and spearhead by Arvind Kejriwal, to the formation of the AAP and its eventual victory in the Delhi Assembly elections, the documentary shows it all.
The beauty of the documentary lies in the cohesive narrative that the filmmakers have come up with and there are no voice-overs or interviews to disrupt the flow of the story. The footage has been woven together to form a proper story and it helps in making the film gripping.
Interestingly, instead of Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav emerges as the hero in An Insignificant Man. Yadav has been projected as the real kingmaker and the brains behind the entire campaign. The psephologist-and-academician-turned-politician is shown planning all the campaign strategies, right from the look of posters to exact words and emotions that were to be reflected in Kejriwal’s campaign. Yadav was expelled from the party in 2015 for “anti-party” activities and he later founded his own party, Swaraj India.
The film focuses on Yadav’s disappointment when promises of clean politics and anti-corruption measures were not met, more than the developments and Kejriwal’s own reactions. Another pain point, for me, was the fact that except for a five-minute footage where people fought with Kejriwal during the distribution of tickets for the Delhi elections, there is little that cannot be labelled as ‘pro-AAP’.
{{/usCountry}}The film focuses on Yadav’s disappointment when promises of clean politics and anti-corruption measures were not met, more than the developments and Kejriwal’s own reactions. Another pain point, for me, was the fact that except for a five-minute footage where people fought with Kejriwal during the distribution of tickets for the Delhi elections, there is little that cannot be labelled as ‘pro-AAP’.
{{/usCountry}}However, if you have been following the developments, An Insignificant Man does not have anything new for you. Despite all the promises of being an insider’s view of how democracy works in our country, the film does not show any intra-party squabbling that we have not watched on news channels.
An Insignificant Man is a peek into the working of politics and difficulties of bringing in honest measures to the system. But it does not hold the power to change your political beliefs or give a proper insight into the party and its working. It is only a sneak peek.
Watch the trailer for An Insignificant Man here:
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