Nandita Das created a stir by scripting and directing "Firaaq". It's a soul-stirring movie. Nandita, the director and scriptwriter, has tried to be as honest and candid with the celluloid as her deep-rooted commitment to her political ideology.
Terrifyingly impressive is the way she uses silence as a tool to etch her message on the viewers' minds. The actors live the characters they represent. And she admits frankly, "It's a political movie."
As a filmmaker and journalist, I would give her full marks for a political statement that has been registered so strongly that this film is going to have better effect than a hundred thousand people's gathering.
Surely, more than a movie it's a political statement. She is a person with strong colours of ideology and she has done what she thought she must do. "Firaaq" will certainly get rave reviews in the Indian media. She has already received some international awards, and like "Slumdog Millionaire", the film has passed the test through "firang" eyes and hence must be all the more acceptable to the "progressive secular, peace loving" people here who have a large, global heart and express their feelings in English.
Apart from its technical qualities of cinematography, editing, direction and script it almost convinced me that barbarism begins with Hindus.
There would be a couple of critical articles or comments, if any, criticizing the movie on ideological points or for the depiction of the events, which may be found completely wrong and devastatingly hateful. These critics may forget that this is a political movie that would sell because the West needs a Jamal or a Mohsin to be rewarded to help it cover the feelings that emerged after 9/11. Having heard Nandita on the movie and seen the clips, I too would have converted to her views if the Godhra incident was not vividly clear in my mind.
I would have turned to take Nandita's autographs with a sense of admiration if I had not heard the cries of Seema, whose father, mother and brother were slaughtered with a butcher's knife in Doda, before her eyes, when she was barely seven, in the name of a jihad my secular friends interpret differently. I tried to ask a question: who were those Hindus killed and brutalized during the Gujarat riots? It's impossible for me to keep mum or justify what happened after Godhra, which saw innocent Muslims being killed so ghastly that no words are enough to express the hurt. The colour of the tears of a mother, whether Hindu or Muslim, is alike. But dividing dead bodies and deciding levels of mourning on the basis of their faith should be as unacceptable as the killings of innocent citizens. Killing truth and colouring facts must also be called a pogrom of civility.
Nandita has done exactly that. Pray, why? So if I can admire her qualities of script writing and her directorial debut, shouldn't I be expected to appreciate, on the same level of objectivity, the organisational capabilities, commitment to the ideology and the power to motivate-even well educated- as exhibited in the personae of Osama bin Laden? Or should the motive and the message also be a factor to print our appreciative hymns? And shouldn’t the timing she has chosen to release the movie-just before the elections be also noticed and underlined?
In fact, the secular messengers of the new gospel of hate have turned into aggressive proselytizers setting their worldview as a prerequisite to enter any socio-political or literary regime. They have successfully monopolized the world of various media establishing English as the only vehicle of intellectual discourse and thus keeping the doors to the higher echelons of elite and decision makers shut to those who belong to the Indian-language groups and represent the real ethos of the land. Although to make profits, these very secular groups would sell bhajans and show religious serials while attacking the very spirit of and the protective shields to such traditions in the very next programme. They can't imagine winning votes with speeches in English or going to the common voter with a wine glass or a beer bottle in their hands. Yet, in their social circuit, they would raise the flag of "pub culture" and look with contempt at a person speaking an Indian language.
Just have a look at the loan forms of the banks. The last paragraph says "those blind, illiterate or signing in a vernacular language must get their signatures attested by someone who knows English". Can this kind of instruction be tolerated in the UK or the US for their national languages? Even the use of the word "vernacular" for the national languages is a derogatory, colonial hangover. But who cares? They look at Indians as slumdogs, are alien to the threads that weave a fabric called India and treat the "natives" like Kipling's Ramu. So when a western royal or head of state comes, he is made to cuddle a slum child with a running nose or taken to an orphanage for a photo op to show western compassion for the unprivileged. An Indian Prime Minister is never asked to give alms to the homeless sleeping on the stairs of St James in London or offer grants to an NGO in New York working for the victims of child abuse or teen mothers. Compassion must remain a virtue of the rich and powerful.
It is this English-speaking elite that determines what India must be reading or thinking or how Hindus must be behaving. They read about Hindus through Oxford or Cambridge publishers and show the temerity to sermonize those Hindus who have imbibed their dharma in their genes and lived every bit of it, making Kumbh melas possible and taking dips in the Ganga on the chilling mornings of Kartik and Magh. The secular proselytizer visits Kumbh, not as a devotee but as a photographer to take pictures of bathing Hindu women and sadhus using mobile phones, as if being sadhus they ought to live as cavemen. The pictures they wire to press agencies essentially depict the weird, intoxicated, obscene and the unacceptable face of uncivilized Hindus to the west.
They don't know a bit about our faith, or what Magh, Amavasya or Saptami means. They take Sanskrit degrees in English and tell us, what's the use of such knowledge in today's world? To be futuristic means denouncing all that you have preserved since ages. That's an alienated crowd of people with an accent, detached from the Indian reality.
They tell us, you bad guys, you demolished our Babri. Yet, not a single political party can dare to promise in its election manifesto that if it is voted to power, it would rebuild Babri over the present makeshift temple of Ram in Ayodhya. Their influence on the Indian masses is hardly worth noticing, yet their control on the media and political power centres makes them important. Their intellectual terror is so overpowering that today most of the national parties in India execute their proceedings in English. Poor and often unauthorized translations are dished out in Hindi and other Indian languages. The language, idiom and attitude of this "secular" English-speaking elite, controlling the media, advertising and governance remain alien to the indigenous fragrances which they dismiss as folk or ethnic contours, only to be enjoyed in a Suraj Kund mela.
The secular code is: abuse and misrepresent the facts about the opponents, use a pub incident in Mangalore more importantly than the anguish and pains of the soldiers demonstrating at Jantar Mantar, turn every news desk and edit control station into Godhra, throttling the other view point.
One isolated incident of the Hindu right would become a globally circulated representative of the Hindu intolerance and terrorism. None of us accepted the way Mangalore happened. Who cares whether Valentine's day is celebrated or not. If someone says to me "Happy Valentine's Day", I will just smile and say "same to you". That's it. Those who find it a nice way to feel joy must be free to do so. But why I must say "yes, Valentine's Day is the biggest symbol of love, amity and happiness" and feel elated seeing obscenities on the streets to prove I am an educated modern person?
To each one, his own. I must be ready to accept every happy occasion of any colour or faith or stream to smile and send compliments, but should it become mandatory as a fatwa?
But my questions to those who use incidents like Gujarat riots for awards and rubbing salt on Hindu wounds was: why forget Godhra and Doda and Anantnag and Kishtwar? In the case of Kashmiri Hindus, the "seculars" won't like to earn displeasure of the jihadis.
I think it's self-defeating to crib about such situations. If you feel injustice has been done, prepare to counter the wrongs through legitimate instruments.
Nandita did what she felt was right and did it quite courageously without bothering what the other side would feel. What did you do to present Doda or Godhra to the world? Who stopped any other Indian to make a movie on the pains and sorrows of Seema or to document the desecration of temples in Kashmir and record the woes of Hindus who had to pass through weird massacres like the one we saw at Wandhama?
About Firaaqh
Firaaq is an Urdu word that means both separation and quest. The story is set over a 24-hour period, one month after a carnage that took place in Gujarat, India in 2002. This sectarian violence killed more than 3000 Muslims, hundreds of thousands were made homeless and the number of women raped is still unknown.
Firaaq is a work of fiction, based on a thousand true stories. It traces the emotional journeys of ordinary people - some who were victims, some perpetrators and some who chose to watch silently. It is an ensemble film that follows multiple narratives that are at times interconnected and at times discrete. What unites them is their spatial and emotional context.
A middle class housewife closes the door on a victim and struggles to overcome her guilt. The loyalties of two best friends are tested in the times of fear and suspicion. A bunch of young men having suffered the violence, seek revenge to fight their helplessness and anger. A modern day Hindu-Muslim couple struggle between the instinct to hide their identity and the desire to assert it. A boy desperately searches for his missing father, having lost the rest of his family in the riots. A saintly musician clings on to his idealism, despite all the violence in the city, until an incident shakes his faith.
Through these characters we experience the consequences of violence that impact their inner and outer lives. Violence spares nobody. Yet in the midst of all this madness, some find it in their hearts to sing hopeful songs for better times.
Nandita, as a Director
The journey of making Firaaq has been a cathartic experience that has pushed my boundaries. I have chosen an ensemble structure because in mass violence there are no individual heroes or villains. When thousands have suffered, the suffering of only one cannot be glorified. Most films about riots are full of violence that they set out to critique. Instead I wanted to explore the fierce and delicate emotions of fear, anxiety, prejudice and ambivalence in human relationships during such times.
I have enjoyed every phase of film making, with all its challenges, big and small. And I am grateful to all those who had their faith in me and in the story I so wanted to tell.
During my many travels and interactions around the world, I have sensed a collective desire to understand the complex and violent world we inhabit and a palpable need for peace. I hope Firaaq reflects this spirit and touches the hearts and minds of those who watch it. What compelled me to make this film is best captured in the words of Brecht, “Will there be singing in the dark times? Yes, there will be singing, of the dark times.”
Nandita's Career
Indian actor Nandita Das, known to world audiences for her critically acclaimed performances in films like Fire, Earth, Before the Rains etc., has been making waves for her directorial debut Firaaq. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and went on to many other festivals across the world where it got rave reviews and an incredible response from the audiences and critics alike. It is slated for release in India in February 2009.
Nandita is known to never shy away from controversial issues and unconventional roles. She has performed in over 30 feature films, in ten different languages, with directors of international repute like, Deepa Mehta, Shyam Benegal, Mani Ratnam, Adoor Gopalakrishnan, Mrinal Sen and others. She has chosen to be part ofstories that, in her words, “need to be told.”
She has a fiery passion to make a difference, and her choices bear witness to that. The commitment with which she campaigns for various causes has won her a lot of respect from all quarters. Nandita was an active member of Jan Natya Manch, a street theatre group, where the seeds of being an actor and an activist were sown.
Thereafter she did her Masters in Social Work from Delhi University and since then has worked with various NGOs, advocating human rights’ issues. She has been a featured speaker at various universities and social forums both in India and abroad.
Nandita Das has been a member of the main jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 2005 and at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in 2007. Recently the French Government conferred her with the prestigious Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres. Her International awards for films include;
‐ Best Actress for Bawander ‐ Santa Monica Film Festival (2001),
‐ Best Actress for Amar Bhuvan‐ Cairo Film Festival (2002)
‐ Best Actress for Maati Maay ‐ Madrid International Film Festival (2007).
Awards for 'Firaaq'
‐ Special award conferred by the Ministry of Culture, Greece‐ Thessaloniki
International Film Festival (2008)
‐ Best Film, Best Screenplay and Foreign critics award (the ‘Purple Orchid’) for the Best Film
Asian Festival of First Films, Singapore (2008)
‐ Best Editor‐ Dubai International Film Festival (2008)
‐ Special Jury Prize‐ Kerala International Film Festival (2008)
Nandita's Directions
- FIRAAQ Directorial debut feature. It is an ensemble film that deals with the impact
of sectarian violence on human psyche and relationships. (2008)
- EDUCATION SPOTS Three 60sec. public interest spots, shot on 35mm for UNICEF and the
Social Initiatives Group of the ICICI. (2003)
- RAINWATER HARVESTING A 90 sec. public interest spot, shot on 35mm for the Centre for Science & Environment. (2002)
- IMPRINT IN CLAY A 30min. documentary shot on Video on Sardar Gurcharan Singh, pioneer of Indian Studio pottery. (1997)
Nandita's Social Work Experience
• Member of the Advisory Board of the Alliance for a New Humanity. It is chaired by Deepak Chopra and founded by Nobel Laureates, Oscar Arias and Betty Williams and other eminent people.
• Talks in various Universities, NGOs and social forums, both in India and abroad, regarding issues of social concern
• Worked with Civil Society Organizations on issues of Women, Children and Human Rights.
• Worked on an Indo-Pak peace initiative – Beyond boundaries – cricket for peace
• Nominated as a Spokesperson for (UNDP) United Nations Development Programme
• Member of the South Asians for Human Rights (SAHAR)
• Worked in Alarippu, a voluntary organization as a trainer for conducting workshops for children and teachers, in the field of theatre and education
• Worked as the project and area coordinator in Ankur, a non-governmental organization working with women in slums of Delhi.
No comments:
Post a Comment