My movie recommendation

 I have been avid book reader almost whole of my life. And where movies are concerned, I inherited this from my mother as she is a keen movie buff. I watched lots of movies with her and later courtesy OTT subscriptions. Since I have consumed so many books or movies, it’s very difficult to pinpoint a single book or movie. But I will try.

I watched this movie in a training workshop organized by one of my previous companies. You would normally expect some motivational movies to be screened at such trainings, but this movie was different. The title of the movie was 12 angry men. It is an old classic and one of rare English movies in black and white that I had chance of watching. That training itself was very different and unique which probably amplified the effect the movie had on me.

Putting concisely, the movie is about how our prejudices and inherent biases cloud our thinking. How every man relates an incident differently depending on his past experiences. This movie is about a jury of 12 person who must decide whether the convict is guilty of murder or not. The main protagonist is the only person who believes that the person is innocent. How he managed to convince fellow jury members forms the crux of the movie. The main premises is it must be a unanimous decision hence the protagonist has to reach out and convince every team member through different tactics. It was an engrossing watch.

I specifically remember the character of a old man and more particularly one scene where he was putting across his point of view. Some cough very loudly he just stopped talking. I don’t know why what I found that scene very impactful. I categorize myself as a good listener. When I am explaining something, I give total attention to what others are speaking and stop to let them complete something. Whereas almost all the other person I know seems to have this limitation that they can only either listen or speak at the time.

I had many take-aways from this movie. First if that I have many inherent prejudices and biases in me due to various reasons. And it’s very difficult to us to admit and see our biases and we normally surround ourselves with people who says only the things we want to hear. Everyone likes to think himself or herself as a balanced person only.

Secondly this movie also teaches about how a team works and there are lots of lessons about leadership, teamwork, and assertive behaviour in the way the main protagonist goes about convincing everyone. True to real life, everyone is closed and rigid about their decision.

Sub-consciously I had many take ways form this movie. As on reflecting, I have realized that I am also very rigid about my opinion and outlook about others and very reluctant to change them. Secondly there is very fine line between being assertive and being dominating, aggressive and no matter how hard I try, Invariable I do cross over to becoming aggressive or else I become totally passive and disinterested in the proceeding. If you truly to study how a leader should work. This movie is worth watching again and again.

PS: Interestingly, this movie was also later made in Hindi too with the name “Ek ruka hua faisla”. It was a decent attempt and had good actors like Pankaj Kapoor. But I liked the original one better as it was more subtle.