The docu makes for an unexpectedly thrilling ride

Fly on the wall is the best way for a camera to be. Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla have been given some extraordinary, no questions asked access by the Aam Aadmi Party and they make the most of it in creating An Insignificant Man. The duo manages to extract some fantastic, rare, first-hand shots and sequences from the 400 hours of footage of continual tracking of the beginnings and growth of the anti-corruption movement, the rise of the Aam Aadmi Party and of Arvind Kejriwal. While being a straightforward, non-judgmental, faithful look at the formation of a political movement Ranka and Shukla fashion a documentary that is even more riveting than a fiction feature. You have seen, heard and known all about what transpires on screen, and yet it’s like you were watching it for the first time.

The power lies in the material itself; the filmmakers just pick up, edit and arrange the most compelling bits into a thrilling whole. An Insignificant Man could well be one of Shakespeare’s political plays, only it’s all for real. The primary personae are undeniably forceful and interesting in their complexities. How they reveal themselves bit by bit, moulded and getting changed by others around them and in responding to the situations they find themselves in. It’s the human side of the creation of a political alternative that stirs the cinematic pot. And also brings all the navrasas (nine emotions) to come to play on the screen.

An Insignificant Man Director: Khushboo Ranka and Vinay Shukla

Cast: Arvind Kejriwal, Yogendra Yadav, Manish Sisodia, Santosh Koli

Storyline: A documentary on the formation of AAP that begins in December 2012 and ends with the Delhi elections of 2013

The film talks of scams in political establishments, the ideals of decentralisation and participative democracy and the emergence of the Jan Lokpal movement. Also captured are the leaders of other parties irritated with the gauntlet thrown at them by the rookies. “Revolutionaries may make great lovers but are terrible husbands,” says one opponent dismissively. Dirty sting operations, to malign the emerging party follow soon enough. Then in the midst of all the chaos there is the gentle Arvind Kejriwal and the talk of ideals of sanjhi ladayi (shared struggle). Will the purity of ideology fall prey to political expediency? The Delhi election results take one to that heart of darkness. It’s interesting to also see Kejriwal’s cussed, unbending, “intolerant” side come to fore slowly; he has to have the ultimate say, as he makes clear to the volunteers.

In the process of being one man’s character study, some other significant players get ignored or sidelined in the film—there is hardly much of Sisodia, Kumar Vishwas or Prashant Bhushan here, almost nothing of Anna Hazare. But the seemingly logical, sensible, calm and composed backroom, strategising presence of a Chanakya-like Yogendra Yadav positions him as a character as interesting, if not more than Kejriwal. The most heart-rending presence is that of AAP leader Santosh Koli, who is fatally injured in an accident.

There are some nice off the cuff moments—an absolutely terrific sequence of the election processions of Sheila Dixit and Arvind Kejriwal crossing each other on either side of the road. Then there’s breakfast of chhole bhature in a war zone-like election control room on the counting day. Another one has Kejriwal, Sisodia, Kumar Vishwas watching Prakash Jha’s Satyagraha, inspired from their own movement with Ajay Devgn playing Kejriwal. Most interesting, in retrospect, is the casual enquiry from Kejriwal’s mother about when he will return home. It’s on the day of the announcement of the Delhi results and she has no clue about what lies ahead.