A priest in Montreal intends to improvise a Passion Play on Jesus and finds a group of young actors to perform the play. The group of actors putting on an interpretive Passion Play begin to experience a meshing of their characters and their private lives as the production takes form against the growing opposition of the Catholic church. Gradually as they start performing the play and getting into the skin of the characters, the life of Jesus and his men is juxtaposed. The young actors begin to awaken to the fact that Jesus was a strong man, a believer is his vision, and they should go about spreading the word of Jesus just like he himself did back in time. However with suppression from the Catholic church, the enactment of the play finds hurdles and the young actors lead to a state of ambiguity. Eventually the protagonist dies when a cross falls over him — a symbolic modern-day crucifiction of the youth.
Does this story line remind you of anything? Well, its the plot outline from a Canadian French film titled “Jésus de Montréal” (1989) directed and written by Denys Arcand. The film got nominated for an Oscar and won at Cannes.
Affiliating to my previous article on Rang De Basanti, I’m sure that by now RDB is a blockbuster in the country and it has good reason for that. Its a fine watch. Although its uncanny for it to be inspired by Jésus de Montréal. However, this prolific inspiration is eloquent in RDB. It does justice to the theme behind the dramatism. “‘Aag hai mujhmen kahi (There is a fire somewhere within me)” is what former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said to film director Rakeysh Mehra after watching RDB. But as a good friend of mine suggested to me a few days back, the movie won’t have a substantial echo, because we are STILL cowards!
Lately, the song Roobaroo from the movie has just grown on me – a song that’s ardent and alive. It rocks!
aandhiyon se jaghad rahi hai lau meri
ab mashaalon si bhad rahi hai lau meri
naamo nishaan rahe na rahe
ye kaaravaan rahe na rahe
ujaale mein pee gaya
roshan huaa jee gaya
kyon sehte rahe
roobaroo roshni …
Roobaroo means “face to face”. What you see in the social mirror.