Since we are on the topic of this issue, sharing two very well written articles on the issue by Vishal Bharadwaj and Hansal Mehta. 😊
Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj Writes About How I&B Ministry's Interference Is Injurious To Cinema
Our inner being is reflected in the choices we make in life. Hitler chose to conduct a barbaric mass genocide of innocent Jewish people. America dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brutally killing thousands in unimaginably painful ways. Alexander set out to conquer the world while Buddha chose to look within to find himself. Gandhi adopted non-violence while Bose opted to form an army to attain freedom. Kabir, Tagore, Ghalib, Mother Teresa, Saddam Hussein, Bush, Gaddafi, Osama bin Laden and innumerable others have all reflected their inner beings in the choices they made.
File photo of FTII students protesting.
Even a government, in discharging its functions, makes several choices and decisions " often revealing its inner being. And in the current situation at FTII, the students chose to go on strike over the appointment of a chairman by the ministry of information and broadcasting.
I wonder why, in our country, films are part of the information and broadcasting ministry and not perhaps the ministry of culture? Films are a part of our culture and in no way lend themselves to the purview of I&B. It is one of the highest forms of fine art " an amalgamation of drama, acting, music, poetry, painting, cinematography and several others.
The film community has been silently accepting random measures from the I&B ministry over the past several years. The participation of the stakeholders " filmmakers, producers " remains just a formality. The ministry chooses to make decisions to suit itself, irrespective of the political regime in power. There are a few isolated examples of very kind gestures " like the then minister of I&B, Sushma Swaraj of the BJP, giving cinema the status of an 'industry', and on another occasion, both the opposition and the government coming together to pass a new copyright law drafted under the then HRD minister, Kapil Sibal from the Congress, to protect the rights of lyricists and music composers. Barring these examples, the film industry has been taking lashes from its whimsical master.
A strike should have happened when the health ministry forced the I&B ministry to put a statutory warning ticker in scenes where a character is smoking. This made us the only nation in the world to display our brainless attitude on screen. It is the butt of jokes at international film festivals. Instead of mutilating the visuals of our film, why not make cigarettes so expensive that a smoker thinks twice before buying, as is the case in the US and Singapore? But no, blame it on the films, because we are nothing in comparison to the tobacco lobby.
The ministry gave a lot of assurances when regressive diktats of the newly formed censor board and its chief were forced on films. But those assurances remained only words. The new censor board continues to push its regressive agenda. Words like "saala", "saali", "lucchay" and even "pagal" are being deleted (remember a film from the '90s titled Dil To Pagal Hai?). Why are we going backwards? Why are people with regressive viewpoints being chosen to lead institutions of the highest artistic nature, when there is no dearth of intellectuals in this country? I think the reason is that they don't care about us. We artistes " the filmmakers, actors, actresses, composers, writers " remain "bhaands" and "mirasis" to them; gypsies of the roads who entertain with cheap dances and stunts. Just throw a few coins, clap mildly and move on.
A few months ago, I happened to be part of a delegation of filmmakers and producers who met the dashing, articulate and open-minded minister of state for I&B, Col Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. At the end of the meeting, the head of our delegation invited him to come to Mumbai to meet filmmakers and producers to start a direct rapport and build a friendly relationship between the ministry and the industry. The minister jokingly remarked, "So you want me to come and perform an item number for all of you." Soft laughter echoed in the room. I forced a smile but remained deeply disturbed for weeks. The minister didn't have the intention to insult us at all but it came to him so naturally that it reminded me of the fact that we are symbolized only by our lowest common denominator and not by the highest ones. Everything in this world has its highs and lows but we are remembered only by the lows. We forget the Rays, the Benegals, the Gulzars, and the Rahmans who have made our nation shine.
Cinema is not just a medium for entertainment; it's a mirror to our society. It also reflects our inner being, our culture and our texture. Cinema should be a subject in the national curriculum. There are only a handful of institutes that train professional filmmakers in a country that makes the most number of films in the world! Such few film institutes " in comparison to the many medical and engineering institutes " are not capable of creating the number of professionals required to hold up mirrors to the doctors, engineers, MBAs and others, to show them their own reality. The ratio between the arts and the sciences is grossly unbalanced.
A society with more artistes will be a more tolerant and healthier society than one with only doctors, engineers and businessmen. Art and culture are an important component of the growth of a country. Contribution of arts to the US economy, according to a Bloomberg report published in February, is 4.3% of the national GDP, which is greater than banking, which is at 2.9%.
Of course a government has the right to choose representatives for its institutions but it should not forget that it is we, the people, who elect the government. And, in the present case, we elected a full majority for the first time in the party's history. The last thing we want to feel is that we made the wrong choice.
The article was originally published on Sunday Times' All That Matters page.
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Director Hansal Mehta Writes an Open Letter to the Students of FTII
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 - 19:30 by Saumya Sharma
Director Hansal Mehta, known for films like Shahid and Citylights is soon releasing his much-awaited Manoj Bajpayee-starrer, Aligarh. After the recent turn of events at the coveted Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), where their new chairperson has been appointed, Hansal Mehta decided to write to the students of the institute. Read the letter here:
Dear Students of FTII,
Why are you on strike? Why are you not attending your classes? Don't you have a reputation for going on strike at the slightest provocation? Don't you realize that your institution needs change? Why are you so resistant to change?
Your chairperson is an eminent member of the film and television industry with many notable films, 700 television serials including an iconic portrayal as Yudhisthir. He has nearly 20 years of administrative experience within the film industry. Besides his enviable track record he is also a member of the ruling party. He is a nationalist. He believes that films with a good message make for good cinema. He reserves his comments on world cinema. Perhaps, he is afraid that his critical insights into world cinema might lead to unrest between nations. And the nation comes first, world cinema be damned. I am telling you dear silly students, Gajendra Chauhan is the man.
My dear students, you are living in a bubble. Your seniors from the institute were also living in a delusionary world. They were pretending to be inspired by the likes of De Sica, Truffaut, Goddard, Tarkovsky, Fellini, Ray. What use is Truffaut or Goddard or Fellini when your films cannot earn even a fraction of what Mr. Chauhan's illustrious films have earned? Guys, you need a reality check. And Chauhan is the man to give you that. The truth is that you have been force fed a diet of films made by commies and made to believe that this was cinema. Why? Because your institute was governed by commies like Saeed Mirza, Mrinal Sen and their ilk. These commies are depressing people who make depressing films about the human condition. Nobody watches their films.
Friends, change is around the corner. Embrace it. We have a new government. We have the promise of a new, incredible India. We are now a country run by proud nationalists. Your cinema must reflect this new nationalism. The new wave of Indian cinema will emerge from the nationalistic cinema espoused by Mr. Chauhan and the sensible members of the FTII society who have not resigned their posts. Forget those losers Jahnu Barua, Pallavi Joshi and Santosh Sivan who resigned from the council. They are simply not cut out for the transformation that you are so stupidly depriving yourselves of. They have been part of some depressing films and their work deserves to be condemned. Ever wondered why the government appointed them to your society in the first place? I'll tell you why. This government is very fair. They believe in equal representation. Unfortunately, none of you realize it. You have been blinded by the propaganda of the left, without realizing that the pot of gold is actually to be found on the right.
You find my reasoning warped? Then learn some of your illustrious seniors and industry leaders. They protested against the appointment of Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani as CBFC chief. At a meeting held in Delhi and an austere Mumbai five-star the good minister assured these wise men (and women) that all izz well'. Mr. Nihalani is still the CBFC chairperson and really all is very, very well. What did you tell the minister in Delhi when he gave you precious minutes of his time? Why do you tick people off? Learn from your seniors. Capitulate to force, surrender to nationalism and you will reap the benefits of this new, free Bharat. Communism is long dead. Protest and perish. Prostrate or perish.
Mukesh Shaktimaan Khanna is the CFSI chairperson and he is going to transform children's films in India. He is also a worthy supporter of the ruling party and distinguished alumnus of FTII. Listen to him, he is inspirational. He wants you to accept this appointment and move on with your academic work. If you do not like this appointment you live in a democracy. You have every right to leave this institution. Understand and hang on to every word Shaktimaan says. Or perish.
I've watched your shallow defense of your unjustified cause on national television. A senior member of the film industry was right when he said that your institution has gone to the dogs in the past 10 years or so. Your institute has unleashed rubbish all these years - all in the name of art. Those awards you won, the accolades that you celebrated were all part of a larger conspiracy to weaken a nation that was in deep slumber imposed by the commies or their pseudo- socialist counterparts. When a democratically elected government (with a sweeping majority) recruits a person to steer you into the new world, you resist. They must be right. Because you are wrong.
Come on guys, chase that pot of gold. Achchhe din await you.
Jai Hind.
Hansal Mehta
One website took this sarcastic letter by Hansal seriously and made a headline saying Hansal Mehta blasts students of the institute.😆
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