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- IN-DEPTH
The world of movies is over a century old but the contribution of this powerful medium of communication to improve society is unknown. What is known are attempts routinely made by some filmmakers to poke audiences out of their comfort zone. Some films succeed in doing this better but most films seem least concerned about the way the world around them is.
Entertainment producer Faridoon Shahryar with four million subscribers to his YouTube channel told The Citizen that filmmaking is a mixed bag today. Shahryar is the journalist behind the webportal ‘Bollywood Hungama’ and hosted the who’s who of Indian cinema for years. Today Shahryar continues to do the same but at ‘Connect FM Canada’ as the host of a show called ‘Connect Dil Se’.
“Certain films are sincere while others are not,’ Shaharyar said, listing ‘Jai Bhim’ and ‘Sardar Udham Singh’ as recent films made with good intentions. “There are films that are socially responsible and they add a lot of value to life, and to watching movies. Some films may earn a lot of money but they are not well intentioned and that is neither nice, nor correct,” Shaharyar said.
Debonair filmmaker-actor Dev Anand, who would have been a century old this week, and made classics like ‘Tere Ghar ke Saamne’, ‘Jewel Thief’ and ‘Guide’ wrote in ‘Filmfare’ in February 1960 that cinema is primarily a business of glamour and of mass entertainment.
That the man on the street does not go to the cinema to get educated. He goes to a school for that. Way back in 1960, Dev Anand saw films as entertainment that helped to make people forget their hardship.
He did not see filmmakers and film artistes as educators and teachers. They exist to supply entertainment. Films are entertainment for those who cannot afford to go to concerts or to see a cabaret.
It is true that filmmaking is like any other industry and cinema does keep one eye on box office collections. Despite that, not all film makers chose to bury their heads in the sand, including Dev Anand.
There is a long list of films that go beyond providing mere song and dance kind of entertainment and narrate stories that are socially relevant. Today there are films like ‘Jawan’ that are full of voyeuristic elements like fights, blood, gore, romance embedded also with timely social issues into the main narrative.
‘Jawan’ is applauded for waging a battle on screen on behalf of the audience. The audience that has been helplessly witnessing incidents like public lynching, rape, the suicide of countless poor peasants and the blatant abuse of innocent citizens, without knowing what to do about the many injustices faced by society today.
‘Jawan’ is being appreciated around the world for projecting the immediate concerns of ordinary citizens in the forefront. The film is of course a work of fiction, but it is close to the reality of the day, and that is why it has won non-stop whistles and claps at theatres.
Award winning filmmaker Praveen Morchhale found ‘Jawan’, the latest release of Bollywood heartthrob Shahrukh Khan (SRK) a perfect blend of an over the top masala film, but seasoned with a generous helping of issues that plague the country today. “I think ‘Jawan’ is a brave, and socially relevant film.
“It entertains and at the same time plays out a series of incidents for the audience that seems to have found a voice for what was left to fester in the heart and mind of citizens as just an emotion, and a feeling. Jawan does not give a solution but raises all the right questions,’ Morchhale said.
Morchhale celebrates the run-away success of ‘Jawan’ that has earned nearly Rs 10 billion worldwide ever since its release on September 7. For him ‘Jawan’ is a rare film. He is full of praise for its timely release.
He is convinced that Jawan may not go down in the history of cinema as a classic, but it will be remembered for establishing an immediate connection with audiences and in helping the masses to fearlessly face up to the realities of the day at a time when the ordinary citizen was feeling most helpless.
‘Jawan’ is path breaking because it has flung aside the curtain of fear, and courageously talks about matters that affect the future of the country.
Professor Akhil Swami said during a discussion on the digital news channel ‘Satya Hindi’, that ‘Jawan’ is a game changer. Film buff and journalist Dr Prakash Hindustani could not agree more. Hindustani said that he loved ‘Jawan’ for taking up burning issues that people feel strongly about.
He found the film speaking about matters that are on the mind and heart of people. The film addresses the voter directly and emerges as the voice of the people. Communalism is a serious problem today along with illiteracy and poverty also related to the life of the poorest of the poor peasant.
‘Jawan’ has not forgotten that the agriculture sector is one of the most important industries in the Indian economy. In terms of employment, the agriculture sector provides livelihood to over 151 million people.
Approximately 60 percent of the Indian population works in the industry, contributing about 18 percent to India's GDP. ‘Jawan’ has woven these problems into its narrative.
It is obvious that all the communalism that SRK has faced in his personal life in recent times has also been used in the film in a most dramatic way, making ‘Jawan’ emerge as a masala film but with a powerful social message that also entertains a large number of people.
Jawan’s message is loud and clear, making it a film that stands up to the need of the hour, creating total empathy and solidarity with the audience.
Some of the most important films on social issues were made soon after the independence of India in 1947. Both filmmakers and audiences were high on love of another kind for India at that time, and a lot more citizens were concerned with higher values like freedom from blind faith, illiteracy and poverty.
Guru Dutt made films like ‘Pyaasa’ and ‘Kagaz ke Phool’. Raj Kapoor made one socially relevant film after another like ‘Awara’ and ‘Shree 420’, that had also entertained the masses. Mehboob Khan and Bimal Roy made excellent films during this decade while actors like Nargis, Meena Kumari, Madhubala, Waheeda Rahman and Sadhana had made a home in the hearts of millions of viewers.
The 1940s and the 1950s are etched in the memory of cinema lovers as a period when films were made that remain more precious than gold. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor and Dev Anand were all kingz of their craft along with Ashok Kumar. It was a delight to see Guru Dutt emerge from the backstage to take over the screen as leading man in memorable films like ‘Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam’.
The golden era of film making continued till the late 1960s after which box office concerns had triumphed over content. To counter the mediocrity of mainstream Hindi cinema, a movement of parallel or alternate cinema came into being.
The emphasis of parallel cinema was on realism and it did not follow any contrived form of story-telling. The inspiration came from Chetan Anand who had already made ‘Neecha Nagar’ much earlier in 1946, and Bimal Roy was adored for having made the classic ‘Do Bigha Zamin’ in 1953.
By this time the goodness of Hindi cinema had crossed the boundaries of India and found a huge fan following not only all over South Asia but in the Soviet Union and in Europe. When in Greece, it is possible to this day to hear people of a certain generation still hum Hindi songs like ‘Duniya mein hum aaye hain toh jeena hi padega…’ from the 1957 film ‘Mother India’ that has been dubbed in numerous European languages. It was screened in Latin America, North Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Equally loved was the music of Hindi cinema, that added to the world wide popularity of films made in Mumbai especially in the 1970s.
By the time the 1990s dawned, Hindi cinema had drowned itself in greed and endless fantasy with mostly commerce on the mind. The 1990s had reduced films only to entertainment, often of the crass kind.
The only purpose of film making seemed to be profit. Most film-makers seemed not to care about their social responsibility as the multiplex imprisoned audiences into an ambience that was disconnected with the real world.
The single screen was dead by now, and the audience enjoyed being led into a high tech world of virtual experience that continues to thrill some cinema goers even today. This is the period when SRK entered the world of films riding high on a motley work of entertainment mixed with art.
As an actor and producer SRK too is focussed on the first three days after the release of a film because that is when the monetary success of a film is revealed.
“Very few films made today are entertaining as well as socially responsible,” Morchale regretted. His favourite films remain ‘Mother India’, ‘Do Beegha Jamin’, Manthan and in the recent past ‘Munna Bhai MBBS’, ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Aligarh’ and ‘Swadesh’ that he feels are films deeply rooted in society.
What is dangerous is a recent trend to propagate a certain ideology through filmmaking in an effort to brainwash the audience. Instead of calling upon the audience to think for itself, there is an attempt in some films made today to spoon feed the politics of the filmmaker to them.
To use such a powerful medium of communication like cinema for this petty purpose is the greatest concern of Morchhale. That is why Shahryar is impressed with ‘Jawan’ as it entertains audiences but also makes them confront the problems faced by society. After all what is good cinema if not one that provides for audiences a deep engagement with their own world.
Producer and writer Tariq Siddiqui said that films are a reflection of the time that they are made in. Siddiqui has a list of his favourite socially responsible films made in different eras.
He said that similarly ‘Jawan’ is a film about today. It asks a lot of valid questions and serves its purpose as a socially responsible film despite being a potboiler entertainment.
“Hats off to SRK for achieving that,” Siddiqui said.
The social media profile of Kedar Anil Gadgil describes him as entrepreneur, business shrink, political enthusiast, diarist, risk taker, god lover, rationalist, humanist, biker, son, father, single in no order. As a member of ‘The Reviewer Collective’ group of film lovers on Facebook, Gadgil’s verdict is that ‘Jawan’ is a brilliant film.
“Every film, every story, must be seen in the cultural context of its space and time. And from that perspective, ‘Jawan’ is a film whose time has come. I thoroughly enjoyed it. In a fashion,” Gadgil writes.
That said, he added that the story is ‘trash’. The songs and dances are ‘crappy’. The dialogue writing seems to be done by a child. Of an Orangutan. Learning to put words together.
In a tongue and cheek style Gadgil describes the entire movie preachy to the point of cringe, “It's almost as if Ravish Kumar wrote the screenplay. On shrooms”. However he still thinks that SRK is a genius who has reinvented himself as a superb action star.
“His astute handling of political issues, his playing both sides, his self-deprecating humour, his candour and charm, his polished English, his lover boy dimpled smile, his disarming demeanour, his intelligence, his hair, his religion, his family, his origins, he's used everything as a tool to live his life and tell his story. And not just on screen,” Gadgil gushed.
Film director Munzir Naqvi told The Citizen that a socially relevant film which is also able to entertain is the best form of cinema. Naqvi awaits the release of his latest film ‘Sehar’ which is a political drama revolving around the politics of language.
Pankaj Kapoor plays Mahendra Nath Kaul Azad, a Kashmiri Pandit who is a professor of Urdu in Lucknow. He is excited about watching ‘Sehar’ on an Over The Top (OTT) platform in the company of countless other film lovers from around the world who patronise streamed content over the internet.
Naqvi wants to continue to make the kind of earnest films that he likes to make but appreciates ‘Jawan’ for what the film has been able to achieve. “Indian audiences like social messages wrapped in entertainment and Jawan does that,” Naqvi said.
Most of the time audiences do not enjoy serious art films, perhaps because they struggle with similar issues in real life and do not want to spend money to see the same problems magnified before them on screen as well. A mass entertainer like ‘Jawan’ is able to kill two birds with one stone of course after it has been backed by a million-dollar budget packed with high-octane action scenes played out by a superstar like SRK.
‘Jawan’ is a socially important film as it is an entertaining critique of the existing system, Naqvi added. And that is the secret of its success.
There was a time when the National Film Development Corporation (NDFC) had produced a series of significant cinema. For two decades there were films from Shyam Bengal, Govind Nihalni and Saeed Mirza that had pointed out the grim realities of the day.
Remember Benegal’s ‘Ankur’, Nihalni’s ‘Aakrosh’ and Mirza’s ‘Albert Pinto…’? Some of the films made throughout the 1970s till the mid 1990s are still remembered for their sincere concern and love of social values that make life worth living for all humanity.
Recall the 1973 ‘Garam Hawa’ by M.S. Sathyu billed as the crowning achievement in the category of non-commercial cinema. ‘Garam Hawa’ deals with the tragic experience of the Partition of the land into India and Pakistan, with a sensitivity that continues to impress.
Balraj Sahni had already made it big as an actor after a stellar performance in the 1953 ‘Do Bigha Zamin. In ‘Garam Hawa’ he returned to play the role of a lifetime of a family man who loses some of the most precious treasures in his life due to the politics of the day.
Many of the films of that era may not have been as good as some others but the intention of film makers was unquestioned. It was generally believed that the greatest pleasure of most citizens, including filmmakers, was to do good.
To do something positive, to make audiences feel that there is something bigger, something more enchanting up their sleeve. The audience was also forgiving and hopeful too that even those who make escapist cinema must be continued to be encouraged and their potential praised in hope that one day they will better reflect on screen the actual dream of the majority in society.
However, despite ‘Garam Hawa’, that one seminal question remains. Apart from stripping viewers of some cash, has any film escapist, or realistic succeeded in making the world a better place? I don’t know. Do you?
