I recently watched “A Wednesday”, a Bollywood thriller, starring Anupam Kher and Naseeruddin Shah - indisputably among the finest actors in Hindi cinema today. They were the protagonist and antagonist respectively, dealing with one issue which Bollywood; which in my opinion has been handled rather openly and directly: terrorism.
While it is true that terrorism, violence do not make for good dinner table conversation, and people watch cinema for entertainment and to switch off from their daily worries , it is also true that cinema as a medium is extremely powerful and can be used to effect change and bring about a change in people’s perceptions. Bollywood, I believe is coming of age.
In contrast, I will argue that Hollywood has failed in this regard. There are too many stereotypes, clichéd arguments and portrayals of the “other” – that is to say anyone non-western or American as evil. At the outset, I must also admit that I am no authority on cinema – but I am surely a film buff. I have grown up around a lot of theatre, cinema and have spent a lot of time around people who work in the medium and promote it.
Coming back to Bollywood, despite the fact that there is an overdose of emotions and of course the typical masala formula of song and dance; most of the movies I have seen dealing with this rather heavy subject, do a decent job.
My name is Khan is another recent film that comes to mind –which touches upon issues of terrorism, loss, grief, Love and higher emotions. The Shahrukh Khan starrer is about a mentally challenged Muslim boy who grows up to face inordinate challenges of both identity as well as personal adjustments – and overcomes them through sheer determination and passion for life.
Right from the days of “Dil se”, a 1998 film, starring Shahrukh Khan and Manisha Koirala; which is about terrorism in the North East part of India, which to date remains involved in cessasionist violence. It was part of Mani Ratnam’s trilogy on terrorism and human relationships (the other two films being Roja and Bombay).
Indian parallel cinema, which incidentally also has a good following, as compared to “mainstream” cinema continues to make powerful statements about contemporary social issues.
A more nuanced approach needed ?
There is for sure an awareness of the complexities of the origins of terrorism, as well as the human element of where a terrorist comes from. This can be considered a sign of maturity of the industry, as well as a good deal of understanding of the issue of terrorism itself ? This is not to clear Bollywood of all blame and give it a clean chit.
There is stereotyping going on in Bollywood too– right through the 80s’ and 90s’ – with the Sherwani wearing, pan chewing Muslim man and the Burqa clad Muslim woman, as if these were the only realms of possibilities in the Muslim world. Almost always, terrorism is associated with Muslims in mainstream cinema.
If there is one thing that can be said about Bollywood’s treatment of the issue of terrorism it is this : the industry is not shy to tackle it head on. There is no ambivalence and beating around the bush. While the western media, and Hollywood in particular still relies on blatant stereotypes and use of worn out formulas to make blockbusters (the same can also be said about Bollywood to some extent), some actors and directors seem to be making a conscious effort to address this issue with all the honesty they can muster- and are succeeding fairly well at this.
This intellectual honesty and directness, I believe, will produce more original and cutting-edge cinema, which hopefully will have some social impact in the years to come.
