I was never a fan of Vishal Bhardwaj, I had not watched many of his films either. The fact that he was among the people who had led “Anti-Modi appeal from Bollywood personalities” had left me with a sour taste. So I was in a fix whether I should watch his latest movie Haider or not. Also since the script was co-written by a Kashmiri separatist, Basharat Peer, I thought it would be on a similar theme. Anyway, I decided to watch the movie, leaving behind my pre-conceptions as it was not about appeasement, but an adaptation of hamlet by Shakespeare.
The movie started with special thanks to the people of J&K, rightly so. The movie starts with father of Haider, an educated man, a doctor, helping terrorists. Please pardon me; they were not terrorists but militants. That’s how they have been referred to in the movie. The doctor was only doing his duty. But some shrewd officer arrested him for doing this act of humanity and also destroyed his house which had the commander of the terrorists group, er militant group. The movie hits the track right at the beginning and we are told about how the Indian Army is responsible for the plight of the Kashmiris. I am so thankful to Vishal Bhardwaj for letting us all know about it, for opening our eyes. We always thought that army was the victim as we lost a large number of soldiers in Kashmir. What I always thought was that their sacrifice was worth it as they have been finally able to restore peace after all this time and for this Kashmiri people too had to be at receiving end at times, but the end result is, that peace has been restored. But Vishal Bhardwaj could, through this beautifully directed movie, tell us that real culprit was Indian Army and not terrorist insurgency from Pakistan. The movie shows that India has been the reason for plight of Kashmiris and words like Pakistan and Kashmiri Pandits were mentioned for courtesy maybe as an attempt to silence the radicals. But the most prominent reason for their plight was always Indian Army, AFSPA, rightly referred as chutspa (pardon me I don’t remember the exact term).
The movie develops and we are shown that the youth Haider was given a gun and for that reason he was wrongly sent to other parts of India. Later when he is given the gun again, he accepts it and at the end of the movie, chooses the path of peace(?). The movie also shows how Kashmiris live in a terror, when a guy remains outside his home until he is asked for identification (just the way Army does) and let go. The movie shows how the Indian army plays the dirty games and is involved in making innocent Kashmiris fight among themselves. There was one more innocent guy in the movie, whose role was played by Irrfan Khan, who comes as a savior to Haider and unearths all the wrong doings of everyone in the movie. I failed to understand why he was told to be ISI agent, may be to show us that good guys are often on the other side of the border. Also he was neither Sunni, nor Shia, neither pandit, secular self within me was in complete tears listening to this very statement, so touching it was.
AZAADI. We were told how important this term is for our Kashmiri brothers. Thanks to VIshal Bhardwaj we now know how Indian government cheated Kashmir and is still ruling them. Azaadi is the little thing they want, it’s their “janm siddh adhikar” and we are denying so. How cruel we are for not giving them what they want. I always thought that they got maximum subsidy and prime services from the Indian government, which spends thrice as much amount per person in Kashmir compared to rest of the India. I thought they lived a good life as every village in Kashmir has basic amenities like electricity, despite rough topology, unlike rest of the India. But that’s not what they wanted; it’s Azaadi that we have to give them. Let’s all thank Vishal Bhardwaj for making us aware of this simple fact. I stand by Vishal Bhardwaj.
As the movie was about to end, I started thinking that this movie should be made tax-free and that every Indian should watch it. Every person from Kashmir would be able to associate. I thought that in Kashmir the movie should be made free and government should pay for the tickets of the theater, but alas we forget that our brethrens in Kashmir have already demolished all the theaters in the paradise. There’s not even a single screen where the movie can be shown. It pains my heart to think that Kashmiri people might not be able to see how sympathetic our liberals are And How much they feel their pain.
Rolling credits had something different to offer. There were two points that’s I observed. First was appreciation of army for relief work. I wondered what might possibly be the reason to appreciate someone so evil. Probably it’s the reason why we call these artists liberals. Even after all these atrocities, the liberals have forgiven Indian army; forget about random instances when stones are pelted on them. The second point that I noticed was the following line “Principal photography for this film was entirely conducted in Kashmir without any disruption.” I was confused once again. A few days ago I came across a news article in the newspaper which we all know is the most reliable, The Hindu, with title “Kashmir University students disrupt shooting of Vishal Bhardwaj film”. It talked about how our victims got agitated seeing the tri-colour during the shooting of the film. Ultimately the film unit packed up without picking up a clash with the students. But we should remember that it should be seen through the lens of our liberal friends, as it is an act of peace, hence it can’t be called a disruption.
I would request my friends to watch the film in theaters, unlike me, and encourage our liberal artists. They deserve our money; after all they are the only hope. Only these people can enlighten us, the ones who are not aware of the truth. Only because of these liberal friends we get to know about plight of the victims. Please go out and watch the movie, and educate other friends of yours to do the same. Time to become “A lifelong fan of Vishal Bhardwaj.” We only have a few gem like him in India, we all should be proud of him.
Reference:
http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/election-2014/anti-modi-appeal-from-bollywood-personalities-leaves-film-industry-divided-509616
http://www.firstpost.com/bollywood/writing-a-3d-kashmiri-basharat-peer-on-the-challenges-of-co-scripting-haider-1738665.html
http://www.dailypioneer.com/todays-newspaper/picture-abhi-baki-nahi-hai-mere-dost.html
http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/kashmir-university-students-disrupt-shooting-of-vishal-bhardwaj-film/article5387994.ece
