70 years of guns has yielded no result, let’s use humour now: Aziz

Filmmaker Mudassar Aziz isn’t one to shy away from issues that concern the country. The director of the recent release Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi feels that it is “extremely important” to talk about issues such as crossborder terrorism and sociopolitical conflicts. Aziz, however, believes in highlighting them through art and entertainment.

“You see, 70 years of [using] guns has not yielded any result. And I don’t think that the situation on our borders will change anytime soon because of guns,” he reasons. Aziz, however, isn’t blind to the need for self-defence, but insists on intellectual growth. “I am not saying that we should not use guns when it is necessary. Of course, if our borders need to be protected, guns should be used. But dialogue, culture, and art need to find their place,” he says.

The filmmaker feels that talking about difficult issues helps to ease tension and reach at solutions. “Chaar Chinese merey film pe hansein, ya chaar Indians ek Chinese pe hansein, that’s irrelevant. What’s important is that people are laughing, and talking about it. At least there is a sort of conversation happening. Maybe one can find a solution in the jokes,” he says.

In the first instalment of his film, Happy Bhag Jayegi (2016), Aziz joked about the crossborder issues between India and Pakistan through the characters of Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Sheirgill) from Amritsar, India, and Usman Afridi (Piyush Mishra) from Lahore, Pakistan. The filmmaker says that dealing with such situations with humour helps diffuse tension.

Weighing in on the importance of respecting cultural diversity, Aziz says, “There is a reason why the food choices of people from Northeast India are similar to those of the Chinese and not really to those of people living in south India.

Similarly, people in Punjab and Kashmir find their clothing and food sense similar to that of people in Pakistan. There’s a reason why that happens, and that’s geography,” he says.

In that case, Aziz says, “What you can do is keep talking about such things. Talk about the similarities in the culture and other things, and through that there can be a chance of reaching at some kind of consensus. That’s why it’s important to keep talking about such things.”

PHOTO: MANOJ VERMA/HT Mudassar Aziz says he resorts to using humour to deal with problems in society and the nation