.png)
7 Things We Learned From PK
PK was a work of art, and no matter how much someone would like to bash the movie, majority votes always point towards the absolutely realistic portrayal of situations in India. One little alien lands on our planet, hoping to gain knowledge that he can take back to his gola (planet), but first hand witnesses the greed and selfish ways of life. He comes to understand the religious patterns of life and the self-proclaimed Godmen, and teaches us more than what we as inhabitants of this planet know about ourselves. In memory of the wonderful film, we rounded about the 7 things we learnt from PK. Beware, major spoilers ahead for those who haven’t watched the movie.
1. We must give each other Hope This is something that struck me the hardest during the entire scale of the movie. The reason for their existence as justified by the Godmen was that hope did not exist in humanity, and they existed to provide that hope. Would we really need fraud Godmen to give us hope, if we all existed together as a community to hold on and give each other the hope to hold on too? Pretty idealistic, but it’s a thought to think about.
2. Money really does buy everything
In a world of poorly paid government officials, what works? Bribery. Utterly immoral of a thought and concept, but it managed to get Jaggu into the prison cells to talk to PK about his life story for her news article.
3. Religion is really all about clothes The most iconic scene of the movie, this idea set in stone that if you don’t know someone’s name and their religion, you second-guess their identity through their clothes or their physical attributes. PK showcases in front of an entire crowd of people that you would never be able to tell if a man was Christian or Hindu if they did not wear a cross or an ‘Om’ pendant around their necks! Up until a person opened their mouth, you would never be able to differentiate if they did not wear any physical accessories of their religion on them.
4. Question Everything One of the biggest things you’ll learn from the movie exists in the fact that people have stopped asking questions! No one asks anything, questions anything; every belief is simply shoved down their throats and in the fast pace of our lives, we never really question the importance or meaning of things.
5. Religion should not and cannot be equal to Fear I am not here to teach parents how to well, be a parent. Indian parental systems and compasses work very differently from what we see in our favorite Western classics. Maybe it is an Asian household thing, but fear has always been regarded as the easiest and fastest way to induce discipline. We all know the scene I mean; the part where Jaggu’s father slaps PK when PK questions the logic and even comes up with actual evidence to show that people are so far gone into their concepts of religion, that they have forgone reality as it exists! Religion is being used to remove fear, and to induce it too. If you don’t pray to the God before your exam, you’ll fail. That thought occurs in every student’s mind before they decide to fall in front of a stone covered with pan, which they naturally assume to be a God’s statue.
6. Stay with the people you love An honest tear-jerker, this lesson comes from the scene where a man asks the Godman what he should do now that his beloved wife is dying and he cannot live without her. The Godman spews minutes long about how the man should go to the highest mountain top where another temple of the God is created and pray for her life there. Case in point, this is an old man whose wife is probably nearing the ends of her long life too. An old man who could probably never have the physical strength to climb a mountain that high, and a dying wife, who probably only wants for him to stay by her side during her last breaths. This is exactly what PK tells him, “stay with her until she passes on.” An honest opinion, and yet so simple a solution to the entire mirage. People die, life goes on. The memories of what they were and who you were, are what you hold close to yourself, a movie of your favorite times together, the sad, the happy, the angry. Make the most of the time you have with someone, is the lesson you take on.
7. And lastly, don’t lose faith in Humanity
There are always good people, because the bad cannot exist without the good. They are two sides of the same coin, and the rust of evil can only seep in that much. Bhairon Singh goes out his way to help PK adjust into the new world, and he does it by making him a part of his little wedding band. He becomes PK’s first friend, and also the one Pk untimely loses because the war caused by religion in the country. Bhairon becomes the first person to understand that PK comes from a different world and that he cannot go back without his remote. He helps him go to Delhi, finds out the man who stole his remote and sold it to the Godman for a great price, indirectly helping him solidify his proof that the Godman was a fraud. Bhairon and PK’s friendship taught us that some people will never do you bad, because they exist to do you good as your friend, family or loved one.
We hope you enjoyed this article! Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and share this piece with your friends!
Anushka Chandra, Content Writer, Skyshot Media