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Peepli Live (Peepli [Live])
Natha is a poor farmer from the village of Peepli in Mukhya Pradesh who struggles to earn enough money for his family. After taking a trip to the city with his elder brother, Budhia, Natha discovers that the banks will seize his farm if he does not pay off his outstanding loans. Meanwhile, the Mukhya Pradesh government has called a by-election where the opposition party believes they have a chance to form the government. The agricultural, poverty-stricken population has lost faith in the long-serving ruling party, whose Chief Minister, along with the Federal Agriculture Minister, believe in the industrialisation of rural areas.
Natha and Budhia request financial help from the village headman, who mockingly suggests that they commit suicide, after which his family will receive monetary compensation for his death from the government. Budhia encourages Natha to do this for the sake of his family, but Natha is hesitant. While the two discuss at a tea stall, Rakesh, a local journalist, overhears the conversation and reports Natha's impending suicide on the news. The report quickly spreads to national news channels; one high-profile journalist, Nandita, joins Rakesh to interview Natha and his family. A rival channel also picks up the story, and each competes to report on Natha's suicide, increasingly intruding on his private life.
The media at large soon descends on Peepli to await Natha's suicide, monitoring him at all hours. Natha becomes a celebrity, attracting visitors and businesses to the village. The ruling party tries to bribe Natha to prevent him from committing suicide, fearing it will galvanize the opposition. Conversely, the opposition encourages Natha to commit suicide, hoping to win the election while also using media attention to advance their own agendas. Rakesh, meanwhile, discovers a poor farmer in Peepli has died after his land was seized by a bank. He proposes writing a piece about the farmer to Nandita, who becomes frustrated and instructs Rakesh to concentrate on Natha's story.
The village headman, allied with the ruling party, secretly kidnaps Natha and holds him ransom from the opposition parties. Rakesh tracks down Natha to a warehouse in Peepli and contacts Nandita, who rushes to the location; however, the rest of the media follow her there, suspecting she has a lead on Natha. In the resulting confusion, a spill from a Petromax lamp sets fire to the warehouse, which explodes, killing Rakesh. Government officials mistake Rakesh's badly burnt body for Natha's; after ruling that the death was an accident, the government refuses to compensate Natha's family, leaving them helpless. After Natha's death is reported, visitors and media depart from Peepli, leaving it decrepit. Before driving off, Nandita briefly wonders what happened to Rakesh.
As the film ends, Natha is shown to have escaped to Gurgaon, where he works as a day labourer in the construction industry.