Lalbaug Parel

What would happen if the main industry of the city shuts down? Will the people lose their jobs? Would there be another opportunity for employment? Would there be a wave of unemployment? What would the unemployed people do? Does the unemployment affect not only the earner but also the family? How would the families survive if the main earner loses their job? Would this result in change in the dynamic of the city?

All these questions are a very comfortable. Yet once upon a time these questions were the reality of Mumbai. These questions are asked in the film called Lalbagh Parel.

Lalbagh Parel is considered to be a political thriller drama set in 1980 where the textile mills were shut down. The film follows stories of multiple families that get affected because of the strike of the textile mill workers and the shutting down of the textile industry in Mumbai. It shows a very realistic picture of what had happened in Mumbai during that period. Thousands of workers lost their jobs. They were not able to find another job in the same industry or a different industry. The workers already belonged to working class families who had negligible wealth for their future. The job at the textile mill was the only income that they had. When they lost their jobs subsequently lost their income as well. In continuation to that a lot of the mill workers also lost their dignity and sanity. The subsequent closure of textile mills resulted in a widespread unemployment and majority of the families got affected because of this.

The film Lalbaug Parel shows the grim reality. There is no glamour in this film. It shows the gritty reality of the recession. The film shows the fall of the textile industry; the loss of employability; the rise in the criminal activities; and how the businessmen and politicians were still benefited from the events. The film is not a comfortable watch. There are quite of you sequences that would make you really uncomfortable and sometimes sick to your stomach. The narrative that follows the next generation that is the children of the mill workers is really sad and disheartening to watch. Especially after knowing that most of it was true and had happened in the real life.

When I watched this film for the very first time I did not get a pleasant feeling after watching it. It was definitely an uncomfortable and thought provoking film. Though I had not witnessed the actual events which are mentioned in the film, I had witnessed the consequences of the events (a friend's dad was a mill worker who had lost the job due to the mill workers strike. He has been a psychiatric patient ever since). Knowing that the film shows traces of reality, the film and the message hits really hard.

I suggest others to watch the movie not for entertainment but to know that how uncertain the industry can be. Textile industry was the identity of Mumbai which was erased within a span of few months and now it does not exist anymore. This movie tells us about the uncertainty of the industry, jobs, and careers. It also shows how the entire family gets affected because the main earner loses their employment. This film is definitely heart breaking but it gives a food for thought for its viewers.

Overall this film is another masterpiece from Marathi film industry and I always suggest this movie to the movie lovers.