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A fitfully amusing Indian comedy that touches on a hot-button topic.
You can't decide whether to laugh because the events are so absurd or cry because you can imagine them really happening.
I liked Peepli Live, which is colorful and at times quite lively, but I wish it were funnier and its satirical edge a bit sharper.
Manages to mine substantial dark humor from this tragic situation while offering pointed -- and sometimes poignant -- social commentary in the process.
It's an unusual taste of mainstream Indian cinema, unexpectedly irreverent with an earthier, folkier soundtrack than the typical Bollywood electro-bounce.
A better writer than director, the strength of Rizvi's 'Peepli Live' is the film's unsentimental portrayal of the poor
Thousands of poor farmers kill themselves every year in India and it was audacious of writer-director Anusha Rizvi to make a comedy out of the fact with her first film.
You can't fault the crusading spirit of this controversial Bollywood satire, just the blunt, one-note, entirely obvious execution.
There is a deadly serious message about India's rural/urban divide in first-timer director Anusha Rizvi's satirical gem, but it also happens to have a juicily vulgar streak.
Drawing on India's rural-versus-urban divide, Rizvi spins a dynamic, enjoyably-acted yarn that balances farcical humour with a satisfying seriousness.
While the tone may shift from satire to farce at times, this is a highly assured debut by Rizvi.
It's a worthy film. A little less worthiness and a little more sharply weaponised wit would have helped.
Rizvi keeps the humour broad (this doesn't have the metropolitan sharp sophistication of Chris Morris) but the premise is so strong that pithy satirical points are neatly scored.
This is a movie that opens with the hero puking, and spends the rest of its running time showing why that may be the only sane response to the state of the world.
The juxtaposition of the tragedy and the lunacy of the circumstances are not completely disparate; satire is an appropriate weapon here, but it's the drama in Peepi Live that truly resonates.
A poignant soaicl satire, with some elements of a funny screwball comedy about contemporary life in India, its greedy media, complex politics, and diverse populace.
Broad, entertaining satire, with heartfelt pleas, on the difficulties for the farmers and those who try to help them.
Its comical, sharply observant caricatures of India's political and media jackals offers a much-needed reality check in a country where celluloid escapism is too often the rule.
I just wish what [Rizvi] had to tell us about the India of today might have taken a form less distractingly reminiscent of the American classics of yesteryear.
A satisfying and searing satire on the plight of poor farmers in India and the lack of sympathy or understanding of them by the rich and the powerful who have their own plans for national progress.
Takes a deep look at an everyday tragedy and provides the humorous dimension that underscores the pathos. Who says Bollywood is only interested in lightweight romantic musicals?
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