Managing the crisis : "Bharateeyudu" and the ambivalence of being 'Indian'

The films of Shankar and Maniratnam have acquired a following that goes beyond the traditional 'class' audience because of their direct and innovative engagement with the present. But to read Shankar's Bharateeyudu as an argument for liberalisation is to miss the point. What the film demonstrates unequivocally is that something is indeed wrong with our liberalised or liberalising present, that it requires re-evaluation and intervention.