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Behind the Breadline
1974 29’ col English d/p S. Sukhdev s Tanvier Farouqe, Tapan Bose c Govind Maharesh m Vanraj Bhatia
Propaganda film with emphatic graphics (e.g. a large question mark cut out of newspaper) for Indira Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ (Away with Poverty) agricultural policies. Opening with shots of demonstrators led by the Mumbai Mazdoor Sabha being confronted by police, the film cuts to paddy-fields and suggests that the main political and economic problem facing the country is the presence of Sukhdev’s favourite enemy: black marketeers and hoarders. Shots of peasants at work are juxtaposed with food-laden plates at tourist resorts, and the mechanical sieving of wheat in Punjab is accompanied by bhangra folk-dance music. The film ends with a governmental raid on black marketeers staged for the film.