The patriotism Paradigm

 

 

Face the farce. Mahendra Kapoor’s ‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti’ and Manna Dey’s ‘Ae Mere Pyare Watan’ are dreams that have gone from the flag to flak. No one wants to watch films about a social awakening any longer. Raj Kumar Santoshi’s “Halla Bol” was proof of it. Films that once gloriously addressed the question of patriotism like Ramesh Sehgal’s “Shaheed” and Manoj Kumar’s “Upkar” are passé. Aggressive self-interest is in. “Rang De Basanti” marked the end of an Iraq.

‘Mere Desh Ki Dharti Sona Ugley /Ugley Heere-Moti…’ - the man, Gulshan Bawra, who wrote this paean to patriotism is no more. And what we do have, laments Manoj Kumar that one by one, they’ve all gone. The man who wrote this lyric, one-half of the duo Kalyanji-Anandji that composed this immortal song and also the man who sang it.

A sobering thought. This isn’t the passing of an era. It’s the passing of an aura. Gone are all those guys who we thought could change the world and the way we look at it. There was a time when Manoj Kumar churned out the flag-waving hits in a swirl of patriotism.

Besides “Rang De Basanti” the most patriotic film in the last 15 years was Mani Ratnam’s “Bombay”. I remember Shekhar Kapoor saying after the violence erupted over Mani Ratnam’s “Bombay” that Hindu-Muslim love stories are a no-no at the box office. Happily the parameters of the permissible are changing. And today who knows what works, what doesn’t? What we need to understand is a movie mogul’s need to address an issue that should concern all of us. Today patriotism is aligned to terrorism. Terrorism and its distending dimensions have been a matter of grave concern for filmmakers. At the height of the Punjabi insurgency Gulzar came forward with “Maachis”. Who but the awesome Gulzar Saab could combine violence and poetry? Tabu looking into an unidentifiable horizon in the distance singing “Paani Paani Re” in the divine voice of Lata Mangeshkar remains one of the strongest images of a world overtaken by deathly strife. Gulzar Saab attempted to explore the parameters of terrorism a second time in “Hu Tu Tu”. Ominously he hasn’t directed a film after that. Somewhere he failed to connect the story of a human bomb (the gloriously resplendent Tabu) with the audience.

Santosh Sivan desperately wanted to cast Tabu as the human bomb in “Terrorist”. Since Gulzar Saab beat him to it he settled for Ayesha Dharker who gave a ball-of-fire account of the hardcore Sri Lankan suicide bomber who has a change of heart at the last minute.

Manisha Koirala blew up not just herself but also Shah Rukh Khan in Mani Ratnam’s “Dil Se”. Guess it comes from being brought up in the laps of luxury. Mani has his terror trilogy “Roja”, then “Dil Se”, finally topped by the finest of the trio, “Kannathil Muttamital” in Tamil. Recently Tulip Joshi played a suicide bomber in Pooja Bhatt’s “Dhokha”. One aspect of Hindi cinema’s current tryst with terrorism that invites attention is the sheer volume of ‘action’ that underlines the drama. Characters somersault nimbly into the horizon to beat the baddies. And you wonder if terrorists are the latest villains in masala kingdom after smugglers rapists and politicians.

Filmmakers in our country have always been more committed to winning laurels and making a name than carrying forward the social message of their films. Manoj Kumar's films have always been about patriotism. But does his personal conduct anywhere suggest he believes in the ‘Meri Desh Ki Dharti’ theory that he made into a booming formula? One of the less important lessons from 26/11 is – preach what you create. Or shut up and don't bounce for nothing. Yet there are elements in the industry that truly believe in the spirit of patriotism. Says Preity Zinta, "My dad was in the army. And now my brother Dipankar is in the army. So I grew up in an atmosphere of soldierly pride. One of the perks of being an army child was that I got to do a bharat darshan early in my life. Every two years my father would get transferred, and we'd be in a different place. It was a great learning experience. The army is very close to my heart. When I was invited by NDTV to visit the jawans on the border I had myself a ball, re-living my army life” Adds JP Dutta, "My brother Deepak who died on duty was a squadron leader in the Air Force. In fact my very first film “Sarhad” starring Vinod Khanna which never got released was a tribute to my brother. Since then subconsciously or consciously my war films “Border” and “LOC” have been dedicated to my brother's memory. Not a day goes by when we don’t think about him. I feel today's generation isn't motivated enough to join the army and the Air Force. Cinema such as mine and earlier the ones by Chetan Anand addressed the life of the soldiers and the futility of war. But these are themes that no longer attract young people. Sad.” Another army kid, Lara Dutta says, "Both my dad and sister are in the Air Force. They've have both led their respective contingents.” TV star Rajiv Khandelwal says, "My father was in the army. And my elder brother Col. Sanjeev Khandelwal is currently serving in the army. I was always tempted to be part of the army. But since bhai had already joined the armed services I was inclined to go ahead with my other passion, acting. I'd love to do a film about the army. I enjoyed playing Capt Rajveer in a TV serial. I wonder why the army isn't a sought-after vocation among youngsters today. Is the army losing its sheen or does patriotism no longer have buyers? I feel every student in college should be made to go through a stint in the army."