A R T  &  F I L M S

Are Indians becoming more intolerant?

“Da Vinci Code” banned in Punjab and Fanaa in Gujarat.
New czars, Capt. Amarinder Singh [Congress] and Narendra Modi [BJP] join hands to stifle cultural freedom

ON May 25, 2006 Punjab’s public works and cultural minister Pratap Singh Bajwa was approached by a dozen odd Christians in Gurdaspur [Punjab] and his home district and pleaded for banning the film Da Vinci Code. Within an hour he had spoken to his chief minister Capt. Amarinder Singh and sought his permission to ban the film. The chief minister scared of a reelection during the elections slated eight months away that he immediately agreed, as even a small percentage [1.2] of Christians mattered. The minister was quick to announce the ban. None in the state had any idea of the film. The minister and his boss had not seen or even read the script of the film. The home department officials who issued the order after applying their mind had not even heard of the film or much less read the novel by that name.

They were, perhaps, also not aware that the union government after some thought had turned down the demand of some rabid Christian organisations and refused to ban the film which is running to full houses not only in many cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore and Chennai besides cities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu where Christians are live in large numbers.  The Da Vinci Code, in which portrayal of Jesus as a married man drew sharp reaction from Catholic Christian groups, was, however, not released in Goa and Nagaland having sizable population of Catholic Christians.

A leading English daily, The Tribune carried a little story from Gurdaspur stating that, “ The screening of controversial Hollywood fiction “Da Vinci Code” has been banned in Punjab. The film was to be screened in Punjab from tomorrow. This decision was taken today by the Minister for Culture and Archives, Pratap Singh Bajwa, when the representative of Christian community met him here today.” It also wrote, “ Bajwa said that after the Christian leaders met him; he discussed the matter with Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, on the phone. He allowed him to ban the film in keeping in view the hurt sentiments of the Christians of the state. It quoted Dr Franco, who led the delegation to the minister today, “The film fuels the myth that Jesus had wife and children.”

Capt. Amarinder Singh has always boasted that he was a better-read person as compared to his arch rival Akali leader and former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and he should be as he has only recently authored a book on military history of the post independent India and his home abounds with books. We are sure when he gets time to read Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code he would enjoy the book and see the film too.

Right now he is in the enviable company of Modi, whose hands are drenched with the blood of the innocent during state engineered riots against Muslims in Gujarat in the aftermath of the Godhra train burning tragedy in 2001. A blockbuster film starring Aamir Khan and Kajol drew huge number of spectators all across the country.

Intriguingly the Punjab unit of the BJP criticised the ban on release of controversial film 'Da Vinci Code' in Punjab terming it as another tool of government to play with politics of caste and religion and dividing people. "The move is another tool in the hands of government to play with politics of caste and religion and dividing the people rather than upholding the secular credentials of the Constitution," BJP Secretary Harjit Singh Grewal and its youth wing executive member Vineet Joshi stated. Similarly a section of the Congress in Gujarat sided with Modi in keeping the film off the cinema houses.

Fanaa had to remain off the theatres in Gujarat in the wake of the hall owners in the state declining to screen the film fearing violence and protests by state Youth BJP which is angered by Khan's stand on the Narmada dam, especially after the actor ruled out going back on his support for those uprooted by the project. It was an act of communal vendetta at one level and show of utter intolerance at the other level. Aamir who had at times taken up public causes where he felt concerned, did not yield any ground to the fascist forces and unmindful of any loss struck to his position that he was not against the people of Gujarat or the dam or but would certainly support the cause of the affected people, the oustees from the dam.” As an Indian I have every right to express my opinions that and expect others to exercise that right. He declared repeatedly ruing his interviews and appearances on the television.

Fanaa is a complex movie. Aamir Khan has continued his trend of working on atypical plots and delivering astonishing performances and Kajol outshines Aamir on many occasions in the film. The emotional intensity of the movie gets to the core of the viewer's heart. It may help people to look at the Kashmir issue from a different angle. It dopes, however, portray one fact, and that a apparently brutal terrorist can actually be a simple kind person fighting for his land's freedom. He is caught between the greater good or lesser evil somewhat in the sense that the great bard Shakespeare portrays Hamlet. Even though Rehan (Aamir) did not derail from his cause (terrorism apparently) till the last breath in his body, he does draw sympathy from the viewers. The creators of the film were aware of the nature of Fanaa that means elimination of evil deeds and lowly attributes of the flesh. At a higher plane Fanaa is abstention from sin and the expulsion from the heart of all love other than the Divine Love; expulsion of greed, lust, desire and  vanity. In the state of Fanaa the reality of the true and only relationship asserts itself in the mind.

Aamir is not a loser in the battle, he gained in status for supporting a public cause and his film if it was kept off the screen in Gujarat or in some places in the BJP ruled state of Madhya Pradesh, gained immensely elsewhere   because of this publicity. Viewers smuggled Dvds of the film to watch on their television sets in Gujarat and there was demand from large sections as to why were they being deprived of the film.

Support for Aamir came from all sections of the public, teachers, students, doctors, lawyers and most newspapers countrywide wrote editorials condemning the unofficial ban in Gujarat. The Bollywood with some exceptions also came out in full support, though a bit late. Medha Patkar of Narmada Bachao Andolan has fully appreciated actor Aamir Khan’s stance and his comments made about the NBA. The antics of the BJP workers to forcefully withhold of the showing of the film in Gujarat show their fanaticism. It also reminds us of the increasing intolerance and rising fascism in the country. Earlier offices of the NBA were ransacked and its workers beaten up by the BJP workers.

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