Class Spaces in Zinda Bhaag

                Zinda Bhaag presents an extremely localized account of an exilic experience, drawing boundaries for the exile which constitute his class. Outside of this space he appears to be uncomfortable in his interaction with the higher classes, even though in the act of offering up his labor, he takes the burden of easing the communication and relation possible between his class and the higher one.

The first instance in the film in which the exile comes in contact with a different class shows how adept these working-lower middle class characters are in capitalizing on opportunities that arise due to a close proximity with the upper class. In this scene, Tambi goes to the house of a rich urban woman who has problems with her internet. While she is outside, lying comfortable on her sofa and working on her laptop, Tambi enters her room. But before letting him in, she says: “shoes please if you don’t mind” to which he says: “its ok ma’am”. His prompt reply using her language speaks about the fact that these characters often visit such urban high class gentry and have learnt to communicate with them out of necessity. The necessity is perhaps to earn trust and cash in on certain opportunities. Inside her room, Tambi looks at all her pictures, is incredibly impressed by the tiling and the interior of the room, smells her perfume and puts it on as well. And then when he’s about to set her connection, he looks inside her wardrobe and steals a red dress, which he then hands to Khaldi so he can gift it to his girlfriend. When Khaldi expresses fear for his job because the dress was stolen, Tambi assures him and says: “Kuch nhin honda. Easy hoja easy. Kam az kam ik hazar dress hona hai odi almari ich. Onu pata we nhin lagna”. These exilic characters are aware of the social stratification. And their knowledge of the way the lifestyles of the higher classes work and the complete absence of it the other way around, leads them into certain favorable positions. But sometimes this close proximity can prove insulting as well.

I am speaking of the dinner scene in which Chitta and some other men are caterers serving the gentry when one of the rich men loses his cell phone during the dinner. He is, without reason, suspicious of the waitresses and the chefs, including Chitta, so he has them frisked. Turns out he was overreacting. The gentry resume their dinner as Chitta and company feel humiliated. This scene is particularly telling of the treatment these working men receive in an environment which is not their own. And their reaction to being searched for the phone shows that perhaps that they have been through such ordeals before too but have now internalized that anguish.

In their home in Samnabad, they drink, they gamble, and are at ease because the place and people in it are familiar. The directors do a good job of localizing their comfort into one setting, drawing the language of the characters from local references. But despite this ease, life is far from satisfying within Samnabad because its comfort promises no fruitful prospect for the future. If they leave this space to earn a living and rise socially, they come in clash with a class that does not understand their interests and references and is not conscious of their desires. Their knowledge of this higher class and close proximity with it leads to mixed results, and thus is not enough for these exilic characters to sustain themselves. Hence, the desire to escape these demarcations altogether and emigrate. 

(CP)