Visa: PG

Directed By: Anusha Rizvi (2010)

Written By: Anusha Rizvi Starring: Omkar Das Manikpuri, Raghubir Yadav, Shalini Vatsa, Malaika Shenoy, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Naseeruddin Shah

A simple man learns he might be better off dead, at least financially, in this satiric comedy from Indian filmmaker Anusha Rizvi. Natha (Omkar Das Manikpuri) and Budhia (Raghubir Yadav) are two brothers who run a family farm in Peepli, a small town in India. Business has been bad on the farm, and the brothers are unable to repay a government loan, with a default judgment due any day. When the brothers call on a local politician to ask if anything can be done while they wait for a judge’s ruling on their case, he facetiously suggests that one of them could commit suicide, since the government would pay benefits to the surviving family members. Natha doesn’t realize the official is joking and volunteers to kill himself, while a television reporter overhears the conversation and immediately puts the story on the air.

Broadcast date: Thursday 17th November, 2011 @ 20h30 on MBC 1