‘THERE’S NO FEAR OF EXPRESSION’
Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra says it’s not true when filmmakers say they cannot express in today’s times
Artistic freedom in Indian cinema has been a topic of discussion since forever, and films frequently get embroiled in a controversy for hurting sentiments of some group or the other. However, filmmaker Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra says that it’s not true if film directors say that they are unable to express themselves.
“I don’t want to take big words… freedom of speech. Hum ye sab bolte hain, especially TV channels pe chilla chilla ke bolte hain. Shayad hum iska matlab nahi samajhte. So, I don’t want to use those words. Not out of any fear or anything, but because I don’t want to be misinterpreted. I think it’s something very important that we need to address as a nation. I totally disagree that we cannot express ourselves in today’s times… then when will you express yourself? (sic)” says the filmmaker, who was recently in the Capital to attend a film festival.
Mehra, who has never shied away from questioning sensitive issues such as political corruption in Rang De Basanti (2006) or religious intolerance in Dilli-6 (2009), says that he never felt unable to express himself freely in the present times.
“Tell me one time in the history of human beings when the times were right. Start from Mahabharata... there was disorder in those times as well, and so it is even now. Those are conflicts of life, clashes of ideologies; it’s a belief system. Sometimes religion plays a part. For the longest time, religion has played a card in Turkey — it was the centre of crusades. But Rumi expressed himself. From a maulana, he became a poet. There are people who will keep expressing. I don’t think there’s any fear of expression. People who have fear of expression will not express,” he opines.
Mehra adds that filmmakers also need to be responsible towards what they show through their work.
“You can’t take freedom of speech and creative liberties too far unnecessarily because you are going to influence millions of people. If you want to influence them, influence them in the right way, with love. Also, humare yahan itne gaon hain... each individual you see has wounds of their own. Should I be scratching the wounds or should I be providing balm for them? I made a choice — I’ll provide balm for them. However, you cannot ignore the wound. [You have to] talk about the wound, but I feel life is too short for hate. We should just love each other,” he adds.