Stereotypes
MAHESH BHATT INSISTS THAT IT’S UNFAIR TO REDUCE PEOPLE OF A PARTICULAR COUNTRY TO A STEREOTYPE JUST BECAUSE THE EXPERIENCE WITH THAT NATION HAS BEEN UNPLEASANT
He talks about Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi’s speech at the Oscars where the latter spoke about how filmmakers can turn their cameras to capture shared human qualities and break stereotypes of various nationalities and religions. He says that Farhadi couldn’t have been more right when he said that, especially considering the times we live in.
As film producer Mahesh Bhatt talks about his first Punjabi film Dushman, directed by Shagufta Rafique, a story of two friends—one from India and the other from Pakistan, released last month, he stresses that it was not part of some strategy to make his presence felt in Punjabi cinema. “It just happened to me, like all good and bad things. The script was perfect for a Punjabi setting, and the subject was close to my heart,” he says. Stating that contrary to the popular narrative designed by politicians, he had always believed that "Pakistanis are not some kind of monsters and that we do not have the right to reduce human beings to a stereotype". Bhatt says “Of course, there are stories of people harmed during communal riots, but why are we forgetting experiences where people from one community have risked their own lives to save the other?"
Talk to him about the fact that the mainstream Punjabi film industry just can’t think beyond senseless romantic comedies, and he is quick to add that unless filmmakers here wake up to their own nuances, they would keep on producing cheap imitations of Hindi cinema. “Look at Iran. After the revolution, the country’s artistes were amputated from the rest of the world, still their filmmakers managed to look deep within and find a voice that could resound everywhere in the world,” he says. As far as Punjabi films’ collaborations with the Hindi film industry are concerned, the veteran filmmaker says, “Let us not forget that we are not very comfortable with the culture of the other.” No, Bhatt has no plans to sit on the director’s chair again. He is happy mentoring. “See, the page has turned. I don’t have the same drive to direct anymore. Moreover, guiding youngsters is far more satisfying. And I am not doing any kind of charity when I play mentor. I am an extremely selfish man who derives immense satisfaction from guiding filmmakers who have a style and vision distinct from mine.”
Contemporary times, when even top Hindi film celebrities like Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar have to visit the Shiv Sena office if their films have Pakistani actors are really disturbing for Bhatt. And all the trolling and hate that comes his way when he speaks against the current narrative of not allowing Pakistani artists to be part of Indian cinema? “Do you think it affects me what I am called? Do they understand how foolish they sound when they say that the 20 crore people living across the border are the enemy? Remember, we can’t retain our greatness by continuing with the anti-Pakistan rhetoric. There has to be more to India than this. There is more to us,” he says.
REMEMBER, WE CAN'T RETAIN OUR GREATNESS BY CONTINUIING WITH THE ANTI-PAKISTAN RHETORIC. MAHESH BHATT