Sing Panegyrics And Win Plaudits

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 26 August 2023 "Was it a story worth telling? Indeed, so, despite many Pandits having told it themselves over the decades. However, in the hands of a zealous and overtly-political filmmaker, the telling becomes over-dramatised, propagandist and, importantly, dishonest in its facts and framing. This is unpardonable, even dangerous given the reach that mainstream cinema has in not only setting public discourse but influencing entire generations of Indians. Facts mixed with manipulated politics never made great cinema; such a film winning an award for national integration is sacrilege. That the award named after the Dutts, who championed secularism and communal peace above all else, should go to such a film reeks of moral corruption in the establishment. " Today's Editorial in The Free Press Journal This pertains to the controversial film The Kashmir Files winning Nargis Dutt Award for the Best Feature Film in the National Integration category at the National Film Awards. Everyone knows the kind of a movie Vivek Agnihotri made. That it's outright communal is beyond a shred of doubt. But the point is not arguing over the movie's communal and gory contents and their relevance. The point is: What has this movie done for national integration? Au contraire, The Kashmir Files has divided the country on religious lines and created widespread bad-blood. Sir Peter Alexander Ustinov once said, "Cinema is predominantly a visual medium. What the viewers watch on the silver screen is absorbed by the mind and becomes a part of their psyche. Visually disturbing scenes and images may depict realities, but they also make a very big section of the viewers prejudiced. So, a film's basic objective of integration often results in disintegration." Vivek may have had good intentions while making the movie but it (The Kashmir Files) ended up dividing and envenoming minds. In other words, it didn't integrate. Rather, it disintegrated. This Award also underlines the biases that exist in Bollywood, Tollywood, Mollywood and all woods. I've been saying this for many years that the film Industry (Hindi as well as South Indian) has always been prejudiced. The biases and prejudices may not have been so obvious in the past. But they did exist. Now, they have become disturbingly clear. When an actor of Rajnikanth's stature touches the feet of a saffronised and much younger CM, you can pretty well conclude that nothing remains apolitical any longer. Anupam Kher ingratiates with the PM and even his mother sings paeans to NaMo on social media. Jay Ho. He's the co-producer of the movie. So, his movie must get awards in all categories! It's a simple equation that needs no rocket science to understand. Sing panegyrics and win plaudits. It's sort of a quid pro quo. Muslims of this country must have got a whiff of air that now it's Hindu India where they're living at the mercy of the majoritarian populace. Jai Sri Ram, Jai Hind (all ironic). ---- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to the world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/sing-panegyrics-plaudits/d/130528 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism