Strange how a controversy over a movie you have not watched can make you hit the pause button and wonder what happened to create so much social media chatter. A Tamil film titled Jai Bhim, directed by TJ Gnanavel, starring superstar Suriya playing real-life activist-lawyer Chandru, has triggered off a tempest in a boiling cauldron - not a tiny tea cup. Why? Because it hits home! It reflects the ugly truth about our society. It deals with issues we would rather bury or sweep under the nearest chattai - primarily, caste issues. Throw in police brutality, blatant discrimination and the use of what eagle-eyed netzines called a 'communal symbol' on a calendar (digitally-altered to a safer image of Goddess Lakshmi after the controversy broke), and you have a formula for fireworks. The fact that this is the first Tamil film to have scored an impressive 9.6 on IMDB, comparing its record-breaking viewer response to the all-time highest rating achieved by The Shawshank Redemption, means nothing will inhibit Jai Bhim's spectacular success, regardless of the ugly conversations around it. Fortunately, actor Prakash Raj has refused to buckle under pressure to apologise for the scene in which he, playing a cop, slaps a prisoner who replies to him in Hindi. It is NOT about the use of Hindi per se, he explained. It is about a man dodging police questioning by responding in a language (Hindi) that the local cops don't understand, even though the man speaks Tamil. The prisoner's attempt to obstruct the investigation is what leads to the slap. And no, it isn't about 'hating' Hindi! Sounds reasonable? To me, it does. But clearly not to irate trolls who tried to wedge in a North-South rivalry angle.
Possibly, it is the very same army of trolls that objected to the representation of Tamilians in a charming, harmless movie titled Meenakshi Sundareshwar. How dare a Punjabi, Sanya Malhotra, play a traditional Tamil Brahmin girl? And Hello! all those clichés about South Indians in the movie! Terrible, terrible. Aiyo to you, too!
Something weird is afoot. And this rubbish must be discouraged and condemned before haters take it any further. Next thing you know, film-makers will be asked to cast actors as per the community of the characters they portray on screen: Bengalis to play Bengalis, Maharashtrians to play Maharashtrians and so on. Worse, caste certificates may become mandatory along with Covid-19 double vax certs on movie sets.
Jai Bhim, says Suriya (who put his money where his mouth is and produced the courtroom drama), focuses the spotlight on caste-based oppression. Can anybody deny it exists? Inspired by the 1993 Cuddalore incident, when a prisoner disappeared from police custody, leading his wife Parvathy Ammal, an Irula woman, to seek the help of advocate Chandru (played by Suriya). Jai Bhim forces us to confront the shameful reality of the terrible injustices meted out to tribal communities across India. Of course, it makes us uncomfortable - or should. But my point is slightly different - organized armies are hard at work to bring pressure on the very language of movies in India. They want to modify and control narratives to suit their political agendas.
I watched Sooryavanshi at a multiplex cinema last week and came away pretty sickened by its Islamophobic subtext. It's not at all surprising that most critics chose to overlook the obvious slant and focus on Katrina Kaif's flatboard belly. It's so much safer to comment on how many helicopters Rohit Shetty used in the aerial scenes, or the number of cars he blew up during the chase scenes. Who wants to discuss the entirely one-sided representation of Muslims in the film? 'Good' Muslims love the cops and are happy to punish 'bad' Muslims and thus prove their loyalty to India. I'd call this attempt jejune had it not been so insidious. 'Good' Muslims in the film help Hindu neighbours shift to safety an idol of Ganesha in anticipation of a terrorist attack. 'Bad' Muslims cheat, deceive and kill innocents. As for the cops...they do what they do best in Rohit Shetty films - shake their butts and perform rain dances.
If we don't watch out, and strenuously protest against such a devious manipulation of our artistic rights to tell our stories without fearing reprisal from politically-aligned groups, all we will get to see in future are propagandist films, made and endorsed by like-minded lackeys. Movies that encourage viewers to keep blinkers on while watching 'messages' disguised as entertainment.
Hey Bhagwan! Did I just reveal my religious sentiments? Dayyyyyyyuuuuum!
(Shobhaa De is an established writer, columnist, opinion shaper and social commentator, who is considered an authority on popular culture.)
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