Why Sooryavanshi's success at the box office should worry us all - Page 7

Originally posted by: Mahisa_22

How da fcuk did she get to write for Washington Post, is my question. She's literally a piece of trash. She can be sued for trying to incite religious hatred for this piece of hers.

Its because most Americans agree with her and think Modi/BJP are problematic. Unlike in India the left has the power there and the country is much better off and less hateful.

Modi & his supporters are the ones who incite the most religious hatred by far but of course you don't care when its against Muslims

Originally posted by: Journey95

You are in denial if you think movies like PK, OMG or Haider could still be made now. Bhakts would get butthurt more than the writer of this article has. They would be called anti India/anti Hindu movies and boycotted ASAP. Also just because Pakistan does something doesn't mean India should too, Pakistan is all about being an Islamic country since the beginning (literally why it exists).

India is supposed to be not just for Hindus but also others so villifying any minority group (Muslims, Sikhs,Christians etc.) is wrong in my opinion and sends the wrong message. The problem isn't at all to make a movie about Islamic terrorism but how they handled it was lackluster and hateful, Sarfrosh handled the topic in a better way.

Good to know Safrarosh finally gets the approval. Because I remember it being bashed for the exact same reasons at one point. 😂

Interesting, Rana Ayyub is someone who I don't agree with most of the times. As someone said She's extremely biased. She has made her career on these topics because they sell really well in the west. But looking at everything thing happening in India right now with calls of genocide and what not, it's a shame we keep proving her right.

Originally posted by: Journey95

Its because most Americans agree with her and think Modi/BJP are problematic. Unlike in India the left has the power there and the country is much better off and less hateful.

Modi & his supporters are the ones who incite the most religious hatred by far but of course you don't care when its against Muslims

Who are these ‘Americans’? Are you accusing Americans of focussing on something that is not American?😂

You mean the ‘desi’ Americans right? 😂

@Blue: Sure! 😆 The way they let Afganistan get ravaged not too long ago, shows what power they wield.👍🏼

Originally posted by: Anjalika01

I think they're referring to them meeting their own country's prime minister 😆

He is my PM also but meeting the PM in election season. let's be real it was engineered as an endorsement and a legitimisation right before the super important 2019 election. Now to pretend and cry surprise at the events that have followed 2019 would be disingenuous of them.

And Sooryavanshi is replete with that same dumb stereotype. There is a way to handle the issue but Shettty's script really didn't really leave much for nuance (big surprise! but when you're dealing with hindu-muslim issues in a volatile country like India in a blockbuster it's your duty to be more responsible- calling it a "popcorn" "masala" entertainment doesn't cut it)

Originally posted by: catchmeifucan

Who are these ‘Americans’? Are you accusing Americans of focussing on something that is not American?😂

You mean the ‘desi’ Americans right? 😂

@Blue: Sure! 😆 The way they let Afganistan get ravaged not too long ago, shows what power they wield.👍🏼

News about Modi and his supporters extremism appears sometimes in the US, people don't like him here at all and compare him with Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Putin etc. and for good reasons. So no I don't mean just Indian Americans.

Hell read the comments under the article, most support the writer's viewpoint.

Afghanistan has nothing to do with this. America is still the Nr.1 superpower and also the best place for minorities (no matter your religion, gender, race etc.). India in comparison is sadly still backwards because of right/conservative people like you and others in this thread.

Originally posted by: Journey95

You are in denial if you think movies like PK, OMG or Haider could still be made now. Bhakts would get butthurt more than the writer of this article has. They would be called anti India/anti Hindu movies and boycotted ASAP. Also just because Pakistan does something doesn't mean India should too, Pakistan is all about being an Islamic country since the beginning (literally why it exists).

India is supposed to be not just for Hindus but also others so villifying any minority group (Muslims, Sikhs,Christians etc.) is wrong in my opinion and sends the wrong message. The problem isn't at all to make a movie about Islamic terrorism but how they handled it was lackluster and hateful, Sarfrosh handled the topic in a better way.

I partially agree with your post but I must remind you Singham Returns, PK, Mission Mangal, Haider have been made and released during BJP rule only. Yes they were trolled and labeled anti Hindu but only by bots on Twitter. Otherwise they did get released, critical and commercial acclaim and even awards.

My point is all sorts of films are made all the time. There is never an agenda to attack either a community or forces or State. It is just a story from a certain perspective.

FYI, Dil Se released in 1998 under BJP rule. It showed a rogue soldier raping Manisha's sister and later raping Manisha when she was a minor, which led to her joining miltiancy to avenge the sexual assaults and killing of her family. No one called it anti national or anti forces because it just showed ONE angle of possible things that sometimes happen in conflict zones.

So whether we show a militant or terrorism or rogues misusing their powers and disgracing the uniform - it is just one story and not a broad based, sweeping generalisation of the entire community, region, department, religion or profession.

This is what Sooryavanshi also is and it does have patriotic Muslim cops and citizens in it. So how can it be called an Islamophobic film?

Originally posted by: Journey95

News about Modi and his supporters extremism appears sometimes in the US, people don't like him here at all and compare him with Bolsonaro, Erdogan, Putin etc. and for good reasons. So no I don't mean just Indian Americans.

Hell read the comments under the article, most support the writer's viewpoint.

Afghanistan has nothing to do with this. America is still the Nr.1 superpower and also the best place for minorities (no matter your religion, gender, race etc.). India in comparison is sadly still backwards because of right/conservative people like you and others in this thread.

Lol. and who told you I am that? Just because I don’t agree with the bigotry in the article that you posted? Aren’t you being a hypocrite on one hand saying India has to be more tolerant but on the other not being able to deal with a difference of opinion and jumping at people with your biased judgement?

@Blue: I don’t know if India is backward or whatever but if it is, then it’s thanks to bigots like you who cry ‘islalmophobhia/hinduphobia’ at the drop of a hat - because of your incapability of not being able to think anything beyond religion!

@Green: Why not? You just said the so called left in Amreeka wields a lot of power. Where is the power when they let Afganistan suffer in the hands of the extremists right under their guard? lol

@Red: Again, Which people? Most of the Americans don’t even know Modi - let alone caring about his political inclination. My friend, you are definitely talking about the ‘desi’ amreekans.

Originally posted by: atominis

I partially agree with your post but I must remind you Singham Returns, PK, Mission Mangal, Haider have been made and released during BJP rule only. Yes they were trolled and labeled anti Hindu but only by bots on Twitter. Otherwise they did get released, critical and commercial acclaim and even awards.

My point is all sorts of films are made all the time. There is never an agenda to attack either a community or forces or State. It is just a story from a certain perspective.

FYI, Dil Se released in 1998 under BJP rule. It showed a rogue soldier raping Manisha's sister and later raping Manisha when she was a minor, which led to her joining miltiancy to avenge the sexual assaults and killing of her family. No one called it anti national or anti forces because it just showed ONE angle of possible things that sometimes happen in conflict zones.

So whether we show a militant or terrorism or rogues misusing their powers and disgracing the uniform - it is just one story and not a broad based, sweeping generalisation of the entire community, region, department, religion or profession.

This is what Sooryavanshi also is and it does have patriotic Muslim cops and citizens in it. So how can it be called an Islamophobic film?

They were mostly released at the beginning when the situation wasn't this toxic yet and their IT cell didn't have this much influence. Well OMG Part 2 is coming out next year I think so we will see if its still like the original but I guarantee it will just be pro Hinduism propaganda in every way and not dare to say anything controversial. Otherwise it will be boycotted.

Also you can't compare the situation now with 1998, social media didn't exist back then so even if people got upset they didn't have any influence. The problem is these days we only get movies portraying Muslims as cartoon villians, meanwhile Hindus are shown only as heroic. Its very one sided. Its not like there are still movies like PK or OMG or Haider made that show some nuance. Its all "Hindus perfect, Muslims bad".

At the same time you have Hindu religious leaders openly calling for genocide and general tension between the communities. Instead of asking for unity, Bollywood movies are basically BJP propaganda now.

The patriotic Muslim cop and citizens in Sooryavanshi are in like two lazy token scenes with no depth whatsoever. Very different from Sarfrosh which even had some bad Hindu characters and also a fleshed out heroic Muslim cop. Back then Muslim villians were rare in general

Originally posted by: Journey95

Yet SRK has been constantly trashed by the right for his comments (remember the backlash for the intolerance comments), people say he should go to Pakistan and isn't a real Indian etc.

So of course now SRK won't say anything anymore and keep out of politics

The thing is SRK, Aamir, Naseer, Swara etc have expressed their opinions freely. They have made statements as and when they wanted to.

Yes they got trolled and threats. Some of their work is not shown on Govt channels like DD. But then even others like Anupam Kher, Paresh Rawal, Kangana, Swaroop Sampat etc have been trolled for their views. Akshay has been trolled like no tomorrow for that pre election interview with Modi.

So?

I mean these trolling, political biases keep happening.

SRK was clear that he did NOT want to be dragged into any agenda by media and that he does not choose characters based on their religion, he did not do films only for 'Muslim assertion'.

And here he was absolutely right when he wrote films are made for entertainment and not necessarily to make religious or political statement so he would not like to be dragged in any agenda by media on any side of political spectrum. He himself is fed up of likes of Rana Ayyub or Barkha Dutt writing columns using his name or cherry picking his films to link him to certain religion based political narratives.

Same way I feel it is absurd to link Rohit Shetty or Akshay to narratives in a masala film like Sooryavanshi. Especially when we have seen Akshay has done Atrangi Re which takes issue of honour killing and interfaith marriage, has him play a Muslim, done OMG which questions beliefs and worship, done Mission Mangal in which Vidya's son wants to be a Muslim.

Akshay has been labeled anti Hindu and love jihad promoter as well, which is absurd because an actor does not write scripts. He just chooses different types of films. Yet this writer Rana Ayyub easily ignored how Akshay has done many films which have positive references to Muslims or got him trolled for playing a Muslim. She just paints him as some sinister Hindu nationalist party supporter out to tarnish a community.

Just as she wrongfully generalised SRK as a guy doing Muslim characters and asserting Muslim identity in 'Modi's India', something which SRK criticised and refused to be dragged in any agenda.

Rana Ayyub is no different from those right wing sites that see conspiracy against Hindus and India everywhere. She sees conspiracy against her community everywhere and it is shocking if she dislikes portrayal of Indian Muslims and disliked any calling out of any extremist from Pakistan.

I see you praised Sarfarosh but FYI Aamir was also criticised for Sarfarosh and so was its director John Matthew Matthan because it was the first Indian film to directly name Pakistan instead of using pejoratives like 'padosi mulk, sarhad paar'. He was also mocked for doing patriotic films. Sunny Deol has always been made object of hate for patriotic films as well though those films are just 5-6 from his career of over 35 years.

I think there is a limit and we should be allowed to make any kind of film we want without sugarcoating or being dragged in communal politics. Rana is no different from those who called Akshay anti Hindu for doing OMG, Mission Mangal or accused him of promoting love jihad in Atrangi Re.