I am "Choked": Paisa Bolta Hai!

So, I have been watching many Netflix series (Courtesy: lockdown). What perked my interest to watch Choked (dir. Anurag Kashyap) was the subject matter. Demonetisation was one of the most haphazardly implemented decisions by the government and I wanted to see Kashyap's take on the same. 

What fascinated me the most was Kashyap's depiction of the psychological implications of money. The power that money has over the characters is quite fascinating. In a middle-class family, money has a deeper mental hold than one can imagine and surreptitiously peeps into the family dynamics. Most of the choices are based on the monetary condition of the family and this plays a significant role in how relationships are imagined. The subtitle of the movie "Paisa Bolta Hai" is quite apt then as money speaks in different ways in the life of different individual characters in these middle-class families. For instance, for Sarita, finding money under her kitchen sink offers her an escape from her existing realities. She is aware of her moral and social obligations towards her neighbors but the lack of money restricts her from fulfilling those responsibilities. Not only that but the desire to have a decent house that she can call her "home" is one of her greatest wishes. The moment she has access to the means she begins fulfilling all those desires that earlier she could not. Money makes the imagined possible and revokes it from the realm of fantasy into reality.

But Demonetisation gave a different meaning to money. It reduced everyone to the same level of desperation. The only image that it allowed the common citizens was of survival. It was a phase of confusion, anxiety, and the same level of want. The scene where a senior citizen literally begs for access to her own money is gut-wrenching. The decision to implement demonetization appears to have subsumed that everyone has the same kind of access to their money.

For the middle-class, demonetization became a matter of basic survival. Those who hoarded illegal cash found ways of exchanging the old currency or of disposing of it. But for the commoners, the situation was quite grim. The chaos outside the bank as well as Sarita’s instinct to secure ‘her’ money as the bank was being looted speaks volumes about human nature and the consequences of a decision like this can reduce human beings to do. They can either fight the situation (which is what most of them do) or escape from it. Yet there is the hope that the Prime Minister has done something good for the country, that the black money will come back to it. The film also stresses the hypocrisy of the Indian media in glorifying a leader and the chaotic conditions by hiding the actual reality. Sarita, being a woman who is part of the banking system has no time to ponder on the situation or reflect on the greatness of the Supreme Leader. For her what matters is the house and the very real fear of losing it.  She has no sympathies to offer anyone, she has miseries of her own to deal with.  

The film in a sense tries to convey the psychological grip of money as it is not just what is choked but also the one that chokes. It is money that underlies everything, it has the ability to corrupt as well as the power to redeem. The choked money is an escape while at the same time is the one that chokes you from within. Paisa sachme bolta hai!