The culture of media trial of Bollywood personalities has brought bad name to this industry
Soroor Ahmed | Clarion India
THERE are certain geo-sociological factors responsible for the popularity of Indian cinema, not only in the sub-continent, but also in now Talibanised Afghanistan — the country where several of our heroes trace their ancestry– and Central Asian countries, like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
As art and culture, literature, films, dramas etc. form a part of soft power of any country, till a few years back the cinemas produced in India were serving some significant purpose other than mere entertainment. They were cementing some sort of bond in an otherwise sharply polarised world.
But in the last few years Indian films appear to be losing that quality. The
reasons are both political and not so political.
Besides, Bollywood, in particular, has of late been in the news for some wrong reasons. The culture of media trial has brought bad name to this industry. If this phenomenon continues then it would not do any good to the country.
As the doyens of Indian cinema were originally from erstwhile North West Frontier Province, Punjab, Bengal and Tamil Nadu (earlier known as Madras), it was natural that people of Pakistan,
Afghanistan (and beyond), Bangladesh and north Sri Lanka have affinity with the films produced in India.
Prithviraj Kapoor came from a Punjabi family settled in Peshawar. Dilip Kumar, whose original name was Yusuf Khan, was a Pushtoon. The partition of the sub-continent failed to demolish the cultural bond between the people living across the border. In spite of so much rancour and enmity, these two icons are still held in high esteem in their original homeland.
While the Kapoor clan increased manifold, Dilip Kumar had no issue.
However, one and a half generation later three Khans — Aamir, Shahrukh and Salman — tried to fill the void. The ancestors of all the three were either from Afghanistan or NWFP, which is now Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province of Pakistan.
Actor Kader Khan, who died sometimes back, was in fact born in Kabul. Naseeruddin Shah, though from Uttar Pradesh, comes from a Pushtoon family settled in India.
The post-independence India saw the emergence of some famous lyricists, script-writers, musicians and even singers and actors from north India, especially Uttar Pradesh.
But before Amitabh Bachchan (from Allahabad), it was Rajesh Khanna and Mohammad Rafi, both from Punjab, who took the film industry by storm. Several others followed them.
As most of the songs and scripts were written in Urduised Hindustani it was not very difficult for people across the western border to understand them.
The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan on December 27, 1979 pushed some four to five million refugees to Pakistan. In the years to come these Afghans learnt Urdu, which is very similar to Hindustani. Thus today many times more Afghans can speak and understand this language. Its impact spread to the three northern neighbours of Afghanistan-, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.
The second half of the 20th century is considered as the golden era of Indian
films. More people of this entire region still like Mughal-e-Azam, Pakeeza, Umrao Jaan, etc. than any other film of the present day. The viewers of this region easily get connected because of the obvious cultural reason.
The story is somewhat similar in Bengal. As many of the Bollywood actors and actresses were/are from undivided Bengal they were bound to have its impact on Bangladesh. As it was till December 16, 1971 East Pakistan, people were able to understand Urdu too — not to forget their mother tongue Bangla. Thus in Bangladesh both the Bangla and Hindustani films made in India had a big market. Who can forget Satyajit Ray’s blockbuster Shatranj ke Khilari.
In the same way Tamil films carved out its place in the Tamil-speaking region of north Sri Lanka.
As till lately films were successful in exporting the secular Indian culture they were an instant hit across the borders. But the decline of secular values is certainly going to have its impact.
It is this field that India had a clear edge over its northern neighbour, China, which is trying to increase economic and military influence in the entire region.
But at times, soft power prevails over hard power. The present Indian establishment will also have to understand this fact.
