PK 2014: Religious Managers, Who Are They?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

According to the India Times, Pi Kei will be the first Indian film to be released in China. In the USA and Canada, the story of an alien trying to understand how our world works has already become the highest-grossing Indian cinema. What attracts the audience in this film: the play of actors, Indian songs and dances, great humor, an unusual plot?

Ability to ask the right questions

Great acting, catchy songs and flamboyant outfits are all in most Indian films, and PK is no exception. Aamir Khan, loved by many for the dramas "Stars on Earth" and "Three Idiots", perfectly coped with the role of an alien who flew to Earth to study people. The main character is somewhat reminiscent of a child who came to our world and is trying to find answers to the main questions. It is these main questions, which today are not customary to ask, but without an answer to which it is impossible to understand how our world works, and the hero of Khan poses to those around him:

Is there a God, and if so, what is he like? If God is one, then why are there many religions? If God is omnipotent and hears each of us, why are there religious “managers” who take on the role of mediators and stand between man and God? What difference does it make where to pray: in a temple, a mosque, a church, if God hears everyone anyway? Does the ritual aspect of modern confessions matter for the true God, or is it all created by "religious managers" in their own interests? Should I give my life trying to protect God, or the creator of our universe and the whole world is able to take care of himself and did not ask anyone to die or kill in his defense? If each of us is born without any "religious marks" on the body, then why do people then begin to fight each other, allegedly in the name of God? Who is interested in this war: God or "religious managers"? What are the goals pursued by modern "religious managers"? By what means do they manage to lead people astray?

Trying to find the control panel from his spaceship, which he had been stolen from and without which he cannot return home, Pi Kay finds himself in the capital of India, New Delhi, where representatives of several faiths coexist relatively peacefully: Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and others. … After learning from local residents that his problem “only God can solve”, Pi Kei begins to seek God. He travels to temples, churches, mosques, tries to delve into the ritual side of each of the confessions and understand where this God, about whom everyone is talking, is hiding.

Religious managers

But where it would seem that someone who can solve his main problem should dwell, Pi Kei meets only "religious managers" who, on behalf of God, establish their own rules, lead the crowd and collect tribute. His sincere, somewhat childish interest, his completely logical questions baffle those around him, many of whom are accustomed to blindly and thoughtlessly follow rituals and stereotypes. Instead of clarifications and a desire to share the truth, the protagonist meets aggression and misunderstanding. In most cases, he is either kicked out, or he has to run away from an angry crowd defending his "God".

At one of these moments, Pi Kei meets with the one who will help him find answers to the questions posed and return home. Her sincere desire to help, kindness and responsiveness help him to understand himself in all aspects of the current situation and convey his vision of the world to those around him. And the high feeling of love, which gradually arose in his alien soul, fills life with meaning and joy and gives him the strength to fight those who are trying to "privatize" God:

Conversation in a Hindu shop (53rd minute):

Seller: God created us all, and we just create statues of him.

Pi Kay: Why are you making statues of him?

Seller: So that we can pray to him, so that we can talk about our sorrows and joys.

P K: Is there a transmitter in there? How do God's words reach us?

Seller: God doesn't need any transmitter, he hears directly!

Pi Kay: Since he hears everything directly, why are these statues needed !?

Church conversation (60th minute):

Parishioner: The Lord was crucified on the cross for your sins, and you …

Pi Kay: On the cross !? The Lord was crucified !? When!?

Parishioner: Two thousand years ago! For your sins!

PK: Well, what have I done? I just came here.

Pi Kay, running away from the next "believers" (63rd minute):

After long chases, I realized that on this planet there was not one, but many "gods", and each "god" had its own separate rules. Each "god" started his own company, people called it "religion." And each religion had its own separate manager. On this planet, each person had only one religion, that is, he belonged to only one company. And this company of the "god" whom they worshiped did not accept strangers. Then, I am a member of which company? What "god" should I pray to get to the control panel?

Pi Kei in front of a statue of one of the Hindu gods (69th minute):

Pee Kay: So fold your hands in front of you and ask you? Or kneel in front of you and touch the ground with your forehead? Ringing the bells for you or shouting into the speakers? Should I read the chapters of the Bhagavad Gita? Verses of the Qur'an? Or the commandments of the bible? Your different managers said different words: someone says "make the sacrifice on Monday" and someone says "make it on Tuesday." Some say "pray before the sun rises", and some say "pray after the sun sets." Someone says “pray to the cow”, and someone says “sacrifice her”. Someone says “take off your shoes before entering the temple”, and someone says “go to church with your shoes on”. Of these, who is speaking correctly and who is wrong, I cannot understand.

Pi Kei on religious rituals (87th minute):

Pi Kay: He says that it is worth scrolling to his house and any business will be resolved. Now answer, we are all children of the Lord, right? And what kind of normal father tells his children to roll on the asphalt - and your job will be done? Does your father say that? Like, daughter, if you want a new dress, then go on and spin on the asphalt. Does he say that you need to pour milk on a stone to consecrate it?

Jagoo: Pi Kay, if these calls were to the correct number, to the real God (and not to the "religious manager" - editor's note), what would he say?

Pi Kay: And what will he say? May he say that millions of our children are hungry on the sidewalks of Delhi, feed them this milk! Why are you pouring this milk on me !?

Conversation with the preacher (125th minute):

Preacher: Son, what do you want, a document in which there would be no God? Do you assert yourself at the expense of the suffering of people? … Son, we know how to protect our "god".

Pi Kay: Will you protect your "god"? This planet is small compared to the thousands of large planets that are scattered in the universe, and you are talking, sitting in a small planet, in a small paradise, on a small street, that you will protect the one who created this entire universe? He doesn't need your protection. He can defend himself. Today, the one who tried to protect his "god" blew up my friend, only this thing survived - his shoes. Stop protecting your "gods", otherwise on this planet not people, but only shoes will remain.

What does this film teach?

Pee Kay is a light and deep film that is very relevant today, when, with the help of provocations, like the blasphemous publications of the French edition of Charlie Hebdo and the cruel methods of his PR, they are trying to play off representatives of different confessions among themselves. The film shows that God does not need sacrifices or wars: he needs people to live like human beings, take care of their neighbors and make the world a better place with every action.

The picture deservedly earned a huge love of the audience. She teaches us that human kindness, decency, mutual assistance, nobility, following the voice of conscience make a person much closer to God than any rituals and incantations of “religious managers”.

Unfortunately, the protests in India have demonstrated that this point of view is not shared by everyone today. However, any buzz around this film will only serve to get more people to watch it, and perhaps it will push viewers to reevaluate the familiar sides of life and teach them to ask the right questions.

Violence: The terrorist attack and the death of people as a result of the explosion are realistic.

Sex: Some vulgar jokes; at the beginning of the film, the alien has a very revealing outfit.

Drugs: One scene in which the goody is drinking champagne.

Moral: The film makes the viewer think about the main questions that determine the meaning of human existence; leaves a feeling of enlightenment and warmth.