Soorarai Pottru- Modern example for Juneteenth

Juneteenth, Freedom Day, is coming next Monday to celebrate the end of slavery in the US. Coincidently, Jolie introduced the Indian drama “Soorarai Pottru” to me.

From IMDb, Soorarai Pottru

This film is based on the book “Simply Fly”. Maara, representing G. R. Gopinath, is a retired former Indian Air Force captain. He is pursuing his dream to provide low-cost air carriers for the general Indian population. Before the Deccan Air, buying an airline ticket was not only very expensive but also the privilege of high social class. The story does not focus on the success of this business model. It describes the battle to strive for the equality of flying in the sky of India.

What are the most touching parts? I would say that all villagers were encouraged to give their small amount of donations to support Maara’s registration for the airline. You can feel the strength from the root to overcome the barriers and injustice. One man said:

We cannot be standers and see you work hard to make our lives better

1:37:16, movie at Prime video

Secondly, Maara’s wife, Sundari (aka Bommi), played a very important role. I can say she basically ran a successful bakery business giving the necessary financial and emotional support for chasing the dream of a sky of equality. Interestingly, in our real world, the Bommi’s bakery really has existed for 25 years.

The portrayal of my wife Bhargavi by Aparna was very well etched out , of a woman who had her own mind , strong but soft , feisty and fearless and an inspiration to rural women especially who are equal and can be entrepreneurs in their own right.

— Capt GR Gopinath (@CaptGopinath) November 13, 2020

Twitter of Capt GR Gopinath

In our real world, Air Deccan was set up in 2003 and operated 380 flights a day from 67 airports, many of them in small towns of India. It was sold to Kingfisher and closed in 2012 due to bankruptcy.

Capt Gopinath: The man who pioneered ₹1 flights inspired by RK Laxman’s ‘Common Man’

Anyway, the film has more than 2 hours with Bollywood characteristics, e.g. dancing and singing. If you have Prime video, please watch it right away.