A bunch of films commenting on the socio-political issues of India near release It was a Kashmiri students casual reference to the troubled Valley as a beautiful prison that intrigued filmmaker Rahul Dholakia enough to explore the subject through his next Lamhaa. The Sanjay Dutt-Kunal Kapoor-Bipasha Basu starrer is a culmination,he says,of his two years of research on the state of Kashmiri civilians caught in the crossfire between politics and religious terrorism. Kashmir continues to burn till today because it benefits everyone involvedmilitants,politicians,armed forces,administration as well as the extremists. The only people suffering are the Kashmiris,and this is what Lamhaa attempts to bring to light, he asserts. Not just Dholakia,many in Bollywood seem to have taken up the task of addressing the countrys socio-political issues. Lamhaa,which releases on July 16,will be preceded by Anant Mahadevans Red Alert-The War Within that provides an objective view of the Naxal issue. Anusha Rizvis satirical Peepli Live,releasing on August 13,attempts to bring to light the widening gap between rural and urban India through the plaguing issue of farmer suicides. Later this year,Priyadarshan,otherwise known for his comedies,will release Aakrosh that focuses on the barbaric practice of honour killings. However,working on such issues is often riddled with multiple challenges. Of them,says Mahadevan,maintaining objectivity is the biggest one. Today the country is reeling from Naxalite attacks. But the situation has come to this point because they have been exploited for years. So the challenge lies in presenting both sides of the story, he says. Dholakia seconds him. The Lamhaa director recounts that once while travelling on the Jammu highway,he was stopped by an army jawan who aimed a gun at him and insisted he doesnt move. I almost lost faith in army jawans. Later,when I met some at the camp,I realised that they are expected to give up their lives for the country at a mere Rs 7,200 salary. I have to be objective about the situation. Rizvi,however,says that it is okay to allow personal perspective to seep in. Films are an expression of self. We hear the voice of politicians all the time but,there is no platform to address the common mans needs or views. But pointing fingers at too many people,in our democratic country,is still unacceptable. Early this year,Dibakar Banerjee had to leave out the caste references in the honour killing segment of his Love Sex Aur Dhokha. Dholakia has had to bleep out the word defence in his reference to defence ministry and dub RAW as agency. Mahadevan,on the other hand,downloaded interviews and references to back his film in case of a backlash. Often the lack of support for such films exists within the industry. Apart from hesitant producers and distributors,filmmakers are turned down by stars who prefer not to take risks. Thankfully, says Mahadevan,that is changing. The only actor to turn me away was Mithun Chakraborty since he has been a Naxalite himself. In a casting coup of sorts,he managed to get right-winged BJP politician Vinod Khanna to play a leader of the rebel outfit. He told me that irrespective of what his partys beliefs,he will treat it as a character. But is the country that prefers escapism through cinema ready to face reality? Box office results,says Rizvi,will always remain a matter of concern with such films. But Dholakia is worried about something else altogethersitting in cities,people cant believe the extent to which these problems have accelerated and may complain that the cinematic exploration is an exaggeration.
