Rahim Murge Pe Mat Ro


Rahim Murga does not want your tears. But he does want you to listen to his story.
by Devashish Makhija and Rajat Nagpal
Hindi
1 Min / India

IndianComedyDark

430

Trigger Warning: This film features some gruesome imagery that might put you off your poultry diet for a while

Rahim Murga lived and loved in his short life before he was Halal-ed. In his cage, he was the king, hard at work with his 4 wives in producing the next generation. But now his time is done, and this minute long film is the last minute in the life of Rahim.

The film is narrated in the inimitable voice of Piyush Misra, who rushes to give the broad strokes of this Murga's life before his death. That life was normal and prosaic, almost human, cooped up in a cage, first marriage decided by your elders, the other love, then the other forced on him by the girl. And then hard work, producing and propagating the next generation. And then it's time to die. And while that death is probably the end, definitively the end, it is also a kind of a freedom.

Some external reviews of the film:

"The genius of this film is in the playful, onomatopoeic voice over and its ability to communicate so much of Rahim's character and life as to bring audiences as close to him as any other human character in the collection. Without us even understanding the language of the narrator, we are playfully taken through so much of the nuance of Rahim's character with the vocal delivery alone. Then, even as we are subjected to a gory scene, the film delivers Rahim as a character full of humour and death with a sense of triumph. What a wonderfully strange take on the existential dilemma!"
- Jury, Filminute 2008

"The tumultuous life of Rahim... a soon-to-be-slaughtered chicken is a fast-paced, exuberant retelling of the inevitable joys and frustrations of existence. Using a friendly voiceover and quick jump cutting to depict his environment, Rahim's triumphs, desperations, and eventual death showcase a warm and deeply ironic humor. A standout in narrative mastery of the one-minute format, these filmmakers dispel a lifetime."
- Chandler Levack (Film Critic, Eye Weekly.com)

"There is a great marriage of form and content here. The narrative is hilarious and accompanies a well-edited visual of our hero being taken for slaughter. As he dies, Rahim dismisses every bit of pity that might be thrown at him. This existentialist take on Rahim's life is reflective of the human condition. The events that Rahim recollects moments before his death might be what will flash before any man in a similar situation."
- Manish Tiwary, Filmmaker

"Rahim Murge Pe Mat Ro (Devashish Makhija, Rajat Nagpal) is a fast, witty short with a great voiceover. And there's a message on animal welfare somewhere in there. A lesson in short filmmaking."
- Kishore Budha, widescreenjournal.org

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