''Reason'' is an Indian documentary film in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

(Hindi title is Vivek) languages duration with 261 minutes directed by

Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan (; born 18 February 1950) is an Indian documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Some of his films explore the rise of religious fundamentalism, sectarianism and casteism in India, while o ...

. The film premiered at the 2018

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

and though never officially released in India, has been screened in private and on Youtube.

Content

The Vivek (Reason) film is divided into eight chapters and running time is 4 hour 20 minutes. The documentary delves into some of the socio-political issues in contemporary India, from the killings of rationalists such as

Narendra Dabholkar Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India. In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ...

, Govind Pansare, and M M Kalburgi and attacks on activists to the influence of Hindutva organizations like Sanathan Sanstha and

Abhinav Bharat Abhinav Bharat is a Hindutva organization founded by retired Indian Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay in 2006 in Pune, India. It has a large base in Madhya Pradesh. The organization is believed to be the revived form of the pre-Independence era Abh ...

. It takes a hard look at the rise of hyper-nationalism, the targeting of Muslims and Dalits under the guise of cow protection. The film also highlights the growing acceptance of radical Hindu ideologies in the mainstream and the crackdown on dissent, particularly in universities, as part of a broader push to reshape India into a Hindu state.

Reception

''Neil Young'' of ''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'' describes Reason (Vivek) as a powerful and in-depth documentary that examines right-wing extremism in India, focusing on political violence, caste oppression, and rising nationalism. Despite its lengthy runtime and detailed approach, he finds it engaging and considers it an important work in political documentary filmmaking.

Award

The documentary, Reason has selected as the best documentary at the 31st International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. It also received the Audience Award at IFFLA, Los Angeles, in 2019.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 9318514
Official Website

* ttps://www.tiff.net/events/reason Reason/Vivek Indian documentary films 2018 films Films directed by Anand Patwardhan