These days, cinema is adding to our appetite for inane debates. The obnoxious defiance to standing up in a movie theatre for 57 seconds to show respect to the national anthem, however, distresses most. Muslim clerics and Hindu liberals argue that this requirement infringes upon their right to choose the manner and place of respecting the national anthem. Judges believe that it takes away cinegoers’ freedom to sit, stand or gossip when the anthem is played and fear that if it is not checked now, it will lead to regulating even dress and menu of beverages in cinema halls by the government. Bizarre as it sounds, the national anthem will continue to invite scorn from some of us who have no pride in our national symbols.
No central government can extract respect for the national anthem. Respect has to be voluntary and driven by emotions. It’s like children touching their elders’ feet intuitively, without getting affected by the place and the surroundings. The best option, therefore, is to set the law in motion and wait for moviegoers to feel the adrenaline flowing in their veins on hearing the national anthem. But it will take time. Until then, let chief ministers like Siddaramaiah of Karnataka have their own state flags and state anthems, and ride on their electorates’ manufactured aspirations for regional nationalism.
The Rajput pride in their icons is also under stress by a Bollywood movie, Padmavati. Various sections of the Rajput community are agitated and have threatened to block the screening of the movie for allegedly portraying the queen as a nautch girl. Film fraternity and those who believe in their unfettered right to express art in the way they like, have rallied behind Sanjay Leela Bhansali, the movie’s director. The film is yet to be seen by protesters and certified by the censor board. Actually, the protest has been triggered by the movie’s trailer which shows the queen dancing with her hip swinging distastefully. Bhansali apparently wanted to create controversy and overfill his coffers. He now insists that the film glorifies Padmavati’s ultimate sacrifice. If that is so, he should have brought out a trailer showing queen as regal and fiercely protective of her womanhood.
It is not about whether Padmavati is a mythical figure or whether Bhansali has done justice to her character. It is about her occupying the imagination of Rajputs as a symbol of immense pride. That pride must not be hurt. Goddess Durga is also a myth but M F Husain overstepped his artistic liberty and painted her in nude, incurring the wrath of believers. Vatican, as we know, is plastered with paintings of great artists, but they do not demean Christianity. A telling remark on this controversy came from a Muslim from Rajasthan who wondered why Bhansali wanted to open raw wounds of Hindus by showing Muslim rulers as their murderer and sought a ban on the movie in the interest of amity between Hindus and Muslims.
The hypocrisy of the film fraternity is evident. It demands security for screening the movie but does not say why Bhansali did not take the police into confidence prior to making the movie. It is not the duty of the police to hurt and kill people for his insensitivity. He must also pay for the police arrangements to ensure smooth running of the movie because provocation in this case is his creation.
The cinema is also spicing up Gujarat elections. Rahul Gandhi has resurrected a character from Hindi film Sholay and named the Goods and Services Tax as Gabbar Singh Tax. One is not sure whether Gabbar collected any tax with different tax slabs. Perhaps, Jizya tax levied by Aurangzeb would have been closer to what he was trying to convey but that would have been politically incorrect. In Chennai, Kamal Haasan is making all sorts of noises to form a political party. He loves red colour and everything that goes with it—the CPI(M). He should actually have a chat with Amitabh Bachchan to discover the hazards of politics and aligning with Stalin of Tamil Nadu. In Bengaluru, actor Prakash Raj is upset with the Prime Minister because he imagines his endorsements are being withdrawn for opposing right wing forces. You can’t fault him. Film actors love fantasising about their importance. Rishi Kapoor, a Bollywood actor of yesteryears, has suddenly stepped on the sticky wicket of Kashmir and endorsed Farooq Abdullah’s view that Pakistan Occupied Kashmir belongs to Pakistan, and Jammu & Kashmir to India. Wish, he could understand the irrelevance of his views. The world of Indian cinema is never short of offering lots of heat and fun.
Amar Bhushan
Former special secretary, Research and Analysis Wing
amarbhushan@hotmail.com