The alarming growth of the communal divide in our country over the past few years is not lost on anyone. The everyday impact of it sunk in for me when a friend told me that a friend of her nine-year-old son had refused to talk to a bearded man because the child thought he was Muslim.
We come across these ‘little things’ every day – incidents of silent hate here and there. Harmless prejudices of how ‘they’ have a lot of children or how ‘they’ oppress their women. Prejudices that make preposterous rumours of vegetables and fruits being spat on by ‘them’, believable. Prejudices that are cemented everyday by the communal hate spewed by news channels. Nothing however, compares to the influence that movies have, being watched by all age groups. The release, for example, of the film Kashmir Files which depicted the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits in the 1990s, witnessed several instances of anti-Muslim hate speeches and sloganeering in movie theatres.
I am by no means even remotely connected with the film industry apart from rare appearances as a part of the audience. However, as a part of the society that comprises people who are devoted movie-goers – either in theatres or on online platforms – a certain uneasiness, triggered by the realisation of a social and moral responsibility, has constrained me to address the issue.
Amongst all the existing forms of recreation, cinema takes the lead in shaping perceptions, moulding emotions and controlling individual behaviour.
It is not a matter of debate that movies have a profound impact on society. Movies range from showing a country’s struggle for independence to an individual’s story of struggle to win an Olympic medal. They highlight the wins and losses of a nation. They present the lives of historical figures. More often than not, the manner in which a subject is presented in a movie becomes memory in the minds of the audience even if it is presented with a disclaimer that it is a work of fiction or is merely “inspired” by true events.
The impact of movies can also be gauged by the numerous instances of protests (as were witnessed during the release of the movie Padmaavat when mobs blocked roads and damaged vehicles or during the release of the movie Oh My God-2) erupting before the release of certain movies based on the apprehension in minds of people that they might hurt sentiments, religious or otherwise. Another form of protest, the ‘boycott’ trend on social media platforms, has also been suffered by many films prior to their release, like Pathaan and Lal Singh Chaddha. Many a times challenges seeking the prevention of release of movies are also filed in courts.
Films have great power, but how responsibly is this power being used in the present day?
There was a time when a film like Amar, Akbar, Anthony was declared to tax free to encourage more and more people to watch it because it carried a message of religious harmony and brotherhood. Clear themes of upholding national values of equality, socialism, democracy, fraternity, and secularism could be observed in movies like Awara, Shri 420, Asli Naqli, Naya Daur, Paigham, Guide, PK, and Swades and so on.
The usual plot would depict the protagonist, who was either born into wealth or had chanced upon wealth, but who would denounce it all while in pursuit of a noble cause.
All of this makes today’s scenario as horrifying as it is appalling. Films like Kashmir Files, Kerala Story, and Hamare Barah target and misrepresent a community with the sole intent of making profits by riding the tide of communal hatred that has now become an accepted reality of our country.
Also read: How Falsified History Is a Ready Tool to Deepen Communal Divide
There is another reason, of course – the cementing of prejudices, which is to aid a divisive political culture.
The result?
An already targeted and persecuted minority is further ostracised and becomes more vulnerable because of such distorted representations in the public sphere.
The film Kerala Story perpetuated the myth that Muslims in India are engaged in a targeted international conspiracy to convert Hindu and Christian girls (it was claimed without a shred of evidence that “thousands” of such girls have been converted) and send them to become part of ISIS. The film suggested that Muslims in India owe a higher loyalty to Islam rather than the nation. In a challenge to the release of the said film on the ground that it distorted reality and spread propaganda, the Supreme Court ordered the makers to add a disclaimer that there was no authenticated data to back up the suggestion on the figure of conversion.
The recently released Hamare Barah again showcases the community in a provocative and insulting manner. When this movie’s release was challenged before the Supreme Court, it initially halted the release while observing that the teaser of the movie was found to contain offensive dialogues.
It will not be out of place to draw a parallel between the propaganda being spread by such films with the films made during the Nazi era that adopted a two-pronged approach of glorifying Hitler and the Aryan race and at the same time vilifying the Jewish community by spreading lies and misinformation about them.
This begs the question, doesn’t the film industry bear any responsibility for what to it chooses to put forth?
This responsibility goes beyond being able to clear the technical barriers that may be posed by the Central Board of Film Certification or even by the courts. This responsibility is a promise that is to be honoured by the film industry that enjoys the love and affection of billions of people of this country including the ones it so openly targets.
Also read: India Files: Film Industry Mustn’t Shy Away From Portraying Our History of Communal Violence
Additionally, the CBFC is duty bound to examine the content of any given film, inter alia, on the touchstone of the following guidelines issued in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952:
- whether the medium of film remains responsible and sensitive to the values and standards of society;
- whether visuals or words contemptuous of racial, religious or other groups are presented; and
- whether visuals or words which promote communal, obscurantist, anti-scientific and anti-national attitudes are presented; and whether public order is endangered.
The fact that the above guidelines have been framed in a manner as to ensure that movies should not promote communal disharmony or endanger public order, shows that it is not a mere act of goodwill but a mandatory obligation imposed upon the film industry to produce films that are in keeping with the ideals of our nation.
One is reminded of the following song:
Tu Hindu banega na Musalman banega
Insaan ki aulaad hai insaan banega
…
Malik ne insaan ko insaan banaya
Humne ussey Hindu ya Musalman banaya
Kudrat ne toh bakshi thi humey ek hi dharti
Humne kahin Bharat kahin Iran banaya
(You’ll neither become a Hindu, nor a Muslim
Human progeny, a human being you’ll become
…
The creator created humans as humans
We created Hindus and Muslims of them
Nature gave us just this one earth
but we created an India here and there an Iran.)
This beautiful song, written in a time when our country was still humming the sweet tune of the Gandhian idea of India, reflects a country where unity between religious communities and preservation of the secular fabric of the society were considered to be the highest ideals.
Our nation’s history is replete with instances of religious communities harmoniously co-existing and not just tolerating one another. This was done out of a spirit of fellow feeling and not because there was a constitution with a Preamble securing for its citizens fraternity and equality.
Rashmi Singh is a Delhi based lawyer.
