Peepli Live is an Indian film that achieves what Slumdog Millionaire could not: to capture the relationship between the rich and poor, and use the story of an ordinary man as a departure point for political strategic games. We meet a family of squabbling farmers, about to loose their piece of land because of a debt they cannot manage. When they seek advice with local politicians, they are dismissed with an offhand comment that they should commit suicide in order to collect a financial compensation. A local reporter gets wind of the plan and soon the entire press corps is on site to report. red