Tag: trope of nationalism

A Conjugal Affair with Bollywood

Shouldn’t we attempt to look at what Bollywood films accomplish besides the obvious criticism they engender? 


If I were to say that popular forms of expression negotiate within the dominant models of society, would it come as a surprise to you? Perhaps not.

So, when films like Article 15, Padman, Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga, Veere di Wedding (so on) present just the right amount of critique such that their success is not jeopardised, aren’t they products of popular culture? Shouldn’t we then attempt to look at what they accomplish besides the obvious criticism they engender in the process? 


Popular cinema rather works like that – by introducing the new without denouncing the old.

Since its inception, Hindi cinema has sacralised the institution of marriage. Whether it is the mythological tales of early films or the threat posed by extra-marital affairs to the sanctity of marriage in the later ones. So, are extra-marital affairs problematic because they ‘corrupt’ the ‘pure’ notion of love and trust or is it because they destabilise the general schema of things?

If Madras high court’s 20 questions were a reference point, the logic of the latter prevails. Moreover, social as well as economic changes up until the first decade of 21st century did either of these two things: 


One, evoked a nostalgia for a feudal past with marriage as an essential motif such as in Hum Saath Saath Hain and alike or; two, NRI characters reminiscing their nation with its values vis-a-vis marriage such as in DDLJ and others. 


There was also an anxiety considering women inhabiting the public sphere which led to films that tried to strike a balance between ‘wifely/motherly duties’ and their career.

(Please note that this is not an attempt to linearise the history of representation of marriage in Hindi cinema, which would not only amount to a colossal simplification but could also be rightly challenged. Instead, it is only to make sense of the current shift in the narratives of Bollywood.)

Let’s now consider two recent films, Jabariya Jodi (Prashant Singh) and Luka Chhupi (Laxman Utekar), which scoff at the institution of marriage quite loudly. My interest is not centred around the ‘quality’ of the films, therefore this is no review(s).

What is happening in both the stories if not derision?

You have the ridiculous disruption of Guddu and Rashmi’s wedding at various junctures in Luka Chhupi, making it redundant ultimately. Then, the absurdity of kidnapping grooms as a solution to the practice of dowry as the premise of Jabariya Jodi. Aren’t the grounds on which modern marriage stands shaky? The answer, to refrain from the rhetorical, is yes.

Sex as a conjugal license is critiqued in the first movie while the other normalises a sexual relationship without, not before, marriage. This might seem, to a few, as a common state of affairs but the setting of these narratives is not the usual urban landscape where such an exchange is not only anticipated but accepted.

So what? Some might say.

But, this indicates the pervasive despondency associated with conjugal relations in general thought.

This crisis is further exemplified in the way traditional social customs are manipulated. Thus, dowry becomes no more of a tool stripped off of the power-relation it engenders between the groom and the bride’s family in Jabariya. And with its comical reference to Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (using the popular song ‘Sajan Ghar Main Chali’ to swap the woman leaving the paternal house with that of a man), Luka Chhupi comments on the fragility of marriage in contemporary times. 


However, this play is only possible due to the very restrictions a repressive Hindu society entails. So, unsurprisingly, you have in the backdrop ‘Sankriti Rakshak Party’, and an aspiring political leader and chauvinist (Javed Jaffrey in Jabariya) in the business of groom-kidnapping.

But, I often find people commenting that the resolutions of these films trouble them and dilutes whatever critique they present. Indeed, they do. There are abrupt change-of-hearts and transcendence from the age-old belief in a conformist manner. Live-in relationships have to end in marriage and the problem of dowry has to be sidelined to reinstate the father-son relationship. Yet, this is how popular cinema negotiates and to attack on one of its defining features might just keep the argument in an impasse.

Srishti Walia is a PhD scholar in Cinema Studies at JNU.

Featured image credit: Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja’s Instagram/Vogue India 

2018 Belonged to Bollywood’s Rebels

This was the year unusual stories and transgressive narratives gave conventional Bollywood a run for its money.

In 2018, Laxmikant made sanitary pads, Jeetendra and Priyamvada had a baby in their early 50s and rebellious Manto came alive on screen yet again. This year, Hindi film writers clearly didn’t shy away from flawed characters that evoked laughter, despair and discomfiture all at the same time. While these characters asked uncomfortable questions and prompted introspection, a few others mollified the majority by parroting the same old beliefs. The films in 2018, therefore, brought out two sides of the same story, implying that rebellious voices may yet find a place in the heavily regulated world of Indian cinema.

A more conflicted nationalism

While films like Parmaanu and Satyamev Jayate attempted to play upon our nationalist sentiments, Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi subverted the usual trope by putting forth a softer, low-pitched version of the same. It is the story of an Indian spy, Sehmat, who gets married to a Pakistani military officer but retains her emotionality and identity in the process. People from both sides of the border are humanised and loud bombastic Othering is replaced with measured logical conversation.

We’re told, more than once, that Sehmat will fight any obstacle to save her country, just like her father and grandfather before her. Yet the film doesn’t endorse fanatical nationalist pride. Both Parmaanu and Raazi are based on the idea of nation and national security but the portrayal of the characters and interpretation of the subject sets them apart.

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Sports went beyond victory and defeat

After nationalist films, sports centred films or biopics were another popular choice amongst filmmakers. For the past few years, we have had films like Mary Kom, Dangal, Sultan, M.S. Dhoni, Soorma etc – all with a predictable winning shot in the end, conveniently ignoring the deep-seated politics of the Indian sporting world. Anurag Kashyap’s Mukkabaaz challenged this convention when the protagonist – a boxer based in Meerut – got knocked out in the end.

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Also read: What’s Driving Our Taste for Explicitly Nationalistic Cinema?

We felt the protagonist’s helplessness and frustration within him when the system pulled him down just because of his caste. The film entertained us with its sharp humour but it did not sanitise the corrupt world of sports. In the end, the dedicated boxer lost the game and also his place in the system.

The (new) thin line between cinema and government ads

There were many films that compelled us to think about the current state of affairs. Manto made us realise the importance of our freedom of expression at a time when we are increasingly muzzled by the powerful. Mulk dealt with the idea of bigotry and poked at our ideas of patriotism.

Simultaneously, we also had films that delivered a ‘social message’ where the current government’s initiatives – whether successful in real life or not – were slipped into the narrative.

Also read: ‘Uri’ Trailer: Brace Yourselves, More Toxic Hyper-Nationalism is Coming

Two years ago, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha trumpeted the Swacch Bharat campaign and this year, Sui Dhaaga, which features a young couple trying to set up their own business, put the ‘Make in India’ campaign centre stage. Films are supposed to reflect social realities or aspirations or fears, but these films resembled three-hour long government commercials. 

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Simple doesn’t have to mean irrelevant

This year showed us that a film can raise relevant questions without weaving the narrative around a dark or serious theme. Light-hearted stories with simple screenplays like Badhai Ho, Veere di Wedding and Stree broke stereotypes in more than one way. Badhai Ho broke the taboo assumption that middle-aged people cannot indulge in sexual pleasure. The fresh writing made us laugh and squirm with awkwardness at the same time. 

Also read: Bollywood Is On The Precipice Of a Great Transformation

Similarly, Veere di wedding, which definitely had its flaws, conveyed the idea that women have the right to live life on their own terms. Stree introduced us to a world where men are threatened by a female ghost. Unlike the usual slapstick comedies, Stree steered clear of sexist jokes. Instead, it parodied item numbers by putting men in the position to entertain women. These stories were not flawless but they did show us ways of approaching social issues through mainstream cinema. 

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Way ahead

What made this year really interesting for us was that we got the usual hyper-nationalistic fare, but we also got enjoyable movies that subverted the tropes we’ve come to swear by. In 2019, we already know we’re going to see a particular kind of nationalist fervour with films like Kesari, Uri, Manikarnika lined up for next year. But hopefully we’ll get other types of cinema too.

 

Note: A earlier version of this story incorrectly included Newton, a 2017 release, in the list of 2018 films. We regret the error