Muslims Profiling and Vishwaroopam
Syed Ali Mujtaba
The controversy centering on the profiling of the Muslim
community in the movie Vishwaroopam has fallen into the quagmire of the
hackneyed debate of right of expression vs right to protest.The liberals are flagging the freedom of expression agenda, while those at the receiving end are vehement about asserting their fundamental right to protest for being profiled as terrorist.
The fire power of the media is used by the freedom of expression protagonist to convince their commands are the final words of wisdom on this subject. While those publicly humiliated, are using the democratic armory to score some brownie points.
Call it vote bank or the seize mentality of the minority
community, this time the voices of dissent cannot be trampled, courtesy the government
of the day has to take cognizance of the ground reality and is backing those
who are crying hoarse of being hurt. Who
is winning and who is losing in this debate is left to the individual judgment
as there are other nuggets in this story to be explored.
There is a tug of war between Federal and the
state government over this controversy. The central government is asserting its right
saying the state cannot over rule the Central Government’s Censor Board that
has given approval for the screening of the movie.
The state government
on the contrary argues that when public peace is in jeopardy and law and order
situation is likely to be tampered, the local government is within the
constitutional right to maintain peace. Since law and order is a state subject
the central government has no over riding powers over this subject. In the case
of Vishwaroopam, the state government is convinced that public peace is
paramount and banning the movie is for the larger social good.
The judiciary too
seems to be divided on the issue of banning the movie. When the state
government banned the movie, a single bench stayed the government’s order and
ruled in favour of the release of the movie. The government went for a appeal
and a dual bench turned down the single bench ruling and justified the ban.
The matter may be
heard in the Supreme Court and its likely that the Apex court may quash the ban citing
precedents. However, the question remains, will the release draw full
houses or people may keep away from the theaters fearing untoward
incidents.
A similar situation had emerged with the release of the movie Arakshan and “Jodha Akbar.” Both the movies were banned by the state government first and then the Supreme Court ordered the release of the film. Even then the damage was done as many movie goers stayed away from the theaters fearful of the shadows of the guns and the prospects of bomb blasts. Ultimately both the movies became victim of their controversies.
Coming back to the profiling of the Muslims, the nineties
have been full with movies that depicted Muslims as anti social and terrorists.
The Hindi – Hindu – Hindustan paradigm of the majority right wing India society
that momentarily triumphed following the destruction of Babari Masjid cast its
spell on the Indian film makers.
A glut of films with negative shades of Muslim characters
was produced by the Bolloywood. In the topics of patriotism and nationalism
Kashmir and Pakistan provided the set piece for villainy. If the plot was
terrorism, then Kashmir and Pakistan has to be on the fore. The logical
deduction was the characters have to be Muslims.
In this added another big picture, the 9/11, and US quest
for infinite justice and enduring freedom. The celluloid industry became busy
churning out movies of good guys’ verses bad guys theme. The holier than though
image was straight jacketed for the US and the audience were made to forget about
the creators of the bad guys.
One can understand the Hollywood perspective on such themes,
but Bollwwood and Kollywood falling in line needs to straighten out.. It’s
often discussed Indian movies produced these days are more foreign in nature
and hardly have any Indian connect. The language, the dress, the location and
many other such things are all foreign in nature and meant for the Diasporas or
such international audience who generate much higher revenue. So taping
international market gets priority and the Indian audiences are plated with
some sleek visual delight. This formula seems to be working and every film maker
seems to be in this race.
The movie Vishwaroopam is a classical example of such visual
fantasy. The plot develops in the US, travels to Afghanistan and is plated to
the Indian audience in Tamil language. Which Indian audience may relate to such a plot?
Obviously
the audience that most likely to connect with the movie will the Muslims. In the construct of villainy, they found their religion
being denigrated in this film. If they chose to protest then what’s harm? It seems the
freedom of expression protagonist like to cease the right to cry for being
hurt. They want such slapped to sanity. Even in ‘demoncracy,’ this is
not permissible.
Vishwaroopam, as the
name suggests tries to portray the shape of the world. According to the
filmmaker's world view; “all Muslim are not terrorists, but all terrorists are
Muslims”. This is simple message the
movie wants to convey.
When the controversy
has reached its nadir, the question is being asked, is it the ignorance or the
arrogance of the film maker that’s on display padding the anti Islamic visual
contents in the movie Vishwaroopam? Belting US agenda, why the film maker did not thought of its viewers
sentiments.
From Iraq to Afghanistan, from Syria to Egypt, the .entire
Muslim world is up in flames due to the hegemonic agenda of the US. In this
backdrop a Tamil movie tries to blow the trumpet of Stars and Stripes.
Embarking on such superlative projects with prejudiced world
view is bound to ruffle feathers. Can a film maker afford to do this in a
market driven industry which judges the success of the movie purely on its cash
returns.
Here a mention can be
made about few movies that did the profiling of the Muslims with outmost
sobriety. ‘New York’ ‘Kurban,’ ‘My name is Khan’ all tried present the problem
of terrorism against the US in a holistic way. The Islamic content in the movie
My Name is Khan is beautifully highlighted and this was well appreciated by the
Muslims audience as well as others.
A mention has to be
made about a documentary Allah Hu Akbar (Allah is Great). This shows the
protagonist Salim taxiwala, a devout Muslim who prays five times a day and firmly
believes that Allah’s commandments run supreme on this earth. He carries a
white foreigner in his cab to the airport but his follies during the journey
make his passenger miss his international flight. Little did this cab driver
realize that his carelessness inadvertently saved the life of the passenger
whose flight was high-jacked by international terrorists who blew up the plane
shouting Allah Hu Akbar. Such plot of good Muslim vs bad Muslim has a straight
connect with the Indian audience.
‘Vishwaroopam’ no
doubt can be a great feast for the celluloid but its presentation has rough
edges that are bound to poke those whom it tries to paint in negative shades.
This takes us another area and that is the approval certification for its
screening issued by the Censor Board of India.
The movie
Vishwaroopam has raised eyebrows at the members of the Censor Board who has
given it the clearance fit for screening. Their negligence for assessing the
repercussions over clearing the anti Islamic content is glaring in this case. Is the Censor Board a
Holy Cow that needs to be worshiped? Can we blindly approve all that it clears
for public viewing as an epitome of infallible truth?
The free flow of
blood and gore, explicit sexual content finds its presence in the large body of
the cinematic art that the Censor Board approves fit for entertainment. There
is no control on the screen play, dialogue, lyrics that are full with innuendos and filth. Umpteen examples of highly sexual and lewd content can be
cited that the Censor Board has cleared as fit form of cinematic expression.
Can we gulp such pulp
fiction without making any hue and cry, just because the Censor Board has
approved it? The general view is no film these days is worthy to be watched
with family and children. Some argue that growing crime in the society is
directly proportional to the immoral cinematic content licensed by the censor
board. Who will address such concerns?
In this money
spinning industry where astronomical amount is spent on the making of the
movie, a trend has developed that the seal can be bought by greasing the palms
and the censor board is reduced to selling certificates.
The way out to the ‘Vishwaroopam’ controversy is found
through an out of court settlement with the group objecting to its contents.
But is this the right way to do so? How long a movie or any piece of art can
lean on the crutches of the government or judiciary’s protection for its
viewing. This question has to be addressed by those in the field of the
creative art even before they start working on their storyboards.
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Syed Ali Mujtaba is a journalist based in Chennai. He can be
contacted at syedalimujtaba@yahoo.com - Earlier writeup of the author on the same theme can be checked here
1- Bollywood and the Indian Muslims
http://www.indianmuslims.info/book/export/html/12167
2- The new Bollywood Muslim
http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/ywfzO7eB5mIxAR1NXXP0bO/The-new-Bollywood-Muslim.html
