It is easy to dismiss Satyamev Jayathe as a “directed” and “performed” product rather than presented facts and figures but it is easier to like it because of and the conviction, research and efforts that have gone into its making and of course Aamir Khan. It is indeed commendable for a person of his stature and reach to do something like this show and regardless of the outcome, it is a baby step towards the proclaimed change.
I confess I’m not the best person to comment of the female foeticide coming from a family who has no female children as such and I was largely naïve of the issue. Being of the opinion that people now a day have matured enough and this particular issue was so 1980s, I was certainly taken aback by the numbers the show has provided. In fact the show is all encompassing when it came to this issue, starting right from where it began, the victims’ horrific tales, repercussions on the society, sting operations done earlier by journalists to expose the perpetrators. The solution, SJ team offers is to expedite the judgments on these cases through fast track courts whose foundations might depend on the viewer’s concerned responses through SMSes. Neat.
The way the show was presented felt a bit dramatic and rehearsed at times which made me wonder whether all of those tears were necessary to make people understand the gravity of the issue at hand. May be the people to which it was targeted would need to be patronized or condescended as appropriate by a person whom they can look up to. Now, there are a lot of people to do that but Aamir, I still feel is the best man to do that given his carefully constructed aura and screen presence. The risk here and the key to the show was not the let the star belie the problem and I think he has done a fair job at it if not a great one. Sure, the show needs better “direction” or probably just the lack of it. As I said, it is easy to dismiss the drama, the show, the star and the commercial breaks that associate themselves with the show but the intent should resonate and if it needs a bit of theatrics and tears, so be it.
An alarming aspect of the show it that it is supposed to contain 13 episodes and I shudder to think there are 12 more issues that plague our country as per SJ team. Based on the success of the first edition, there might be another, which only means to say that there are many more than what are immediately evident. I don’t doubt the number but the fact that such a show has to be made in the first place is something that we need to introspect more on. But for a nation that is used to take even terror attacks in her stride for lack of action and miniscule attention spans, is an episode per issue enough? Would it fix it? Create sufficient awareness? Make people talk more? That will be a topic to ponder over another weekend and a couple of whiskies but as the matter stands, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s immediate assurance to take up the issue is a positive start.

PS: I'm in Sir