Katiyabaaz

Katiyabaaz is a documentary on the power crisis in Kanpur but it could be the story of any city in India today.
Katiya are the illegal wires of electricity while a Katiyabaaz is the guy who steals helps steal electricity using the illegal wires.
The documentary stars Loha Singh as the Katiyabaaz. He steals electricity from the rich for the poor since they cannot afford it. Everytime he makes a katiya he is risking his life. Plus, it does not pay well.



At the same time, out of 27 lakh population only 5 lakh are subscribers to KESCO (Kanpur Electricity Supply Company Limited). No, the rest don't live in darkness but steal electricity. KESCO's revenues are down making it impossible to upgrade their systems. An IAS- Ritu Maheshwari is appointed as the MD of KESCO and her first priority is to get people to pay their bills and fines.
Reason the bills have not been paid- either people don't have the money or bills are too high because someone is stealing from their connections.
Ritu gets tough and asks her team to disconnect electricity where bills are unpaid. It becomes a political issue because electricity and water are the only issues which make a politician win elections.
Predictably, Ritu cannot change anything and she is transferred once the government changes.

What I really liked about the movie is how both sides of the story are shown- the people who have to live with 16 hour electricity cuts and the government/KESCO/IAS who want to find solutions but the system is so warped it is impossible. The 2 people on the opposite sides are Ritu Maheshwari and Loha Singh. They never come face to face but there are interviews with both and we get a clear picture of why things are the way they are.
I liked when Ritu mentioned- I cannot just come and change the system because there are too many stakeholders. I will pick the easiest one first so that when I succeed there is confidence to move to the difficult issues.
That is so true and something I have faced in my job many times.

The only assholes in the movie like in real life are politicians who never have solutions... and never contribute to anything in a positive and productive manner.

It was very refreshing to watch this flick. Loved every minute of the 85 mins of it. Sad thing is there were less than 10 people in the theatre. People... c'mon... let us support such movies so that more of them get released. I paid 400 bucks for this movie Vs 300 bucks for Mardaani and every rupee was worth it.