Indian Movies Thread IV

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Interesting article.. Secularism in Hindi cinema has primarily been a Hindu’s responsibility: Javed Akhtar

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->He said that if one makes a list of Hindi film villains over the last few decades, he can actually learn everything there is to know about society’s evolution in India. In the 1940s, we had the Zamindars as villains, which was a reflection of the actual state of affairs. In the 50s, this villain lot was replaced by the factory owner bully. In the 60s, however, the underworld don of big cities ruled the small screen as the bad guy. “In the 70s, this underworld don became a hero,” quipped Akhtar. In the 1980s, the villain in a Hindi film was invariably a policeman or a politician – yet again a reflection of societal affairs. “In the 90s, Pakistan became the villain,” said a candid Akhtar, to everyone’s amusement. “In the new millennium, we don’t have any villains; such characters in today’s movies frighteningly resemble us!”
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->On secularism, Akhtar said that while we can have a ‘Vijay’ getting saved by a ‘786 billa’ (metal arm band that Amitabh Bachchan wears in ‘Coolie’), one is yet to hear of a Muslim character being saved by a Ganesh idol. “I haven’t seen a Muslim character play Holi in any film, although millions of them do so in real life,” Akhtar added. Further, while a goon can hide gold behind a Hindu deity, one can’t show a similar situation in a mosque, as filmmakers are afraid of hurting the sentiments of a minority. This is getting reflected in society too. “We find that few got arrested for the Gujarat genocide,” Akhtar said. <span style='color:blue'>(comment: of course any talk of secularism has to involve Gujarat! though the facts are that this riots have had more arrests than most other riots combined)</span>
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>It all boiled down to one point: filmmakers know exactly what society can take, and what it won’t accept.</b> <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->