Reign of terror

From a gripping tale of five Mumbaikars affected by the train bombings in their city to a young Muslim doctor who is at the mercy of religious fanatics to a man who is tortured in the Big Apple due to mistaken identity — these storylines have made for absorbing watches on celluloid in recent times. And conspicuously, they all have one element in common — terrorism.
Terrorism-based films have bombarded the silver screen over the last one year. Interestingly, four of them — Mumbai Meri Jaan, Aamir, A Wednesday and New York — have received tremendous response, both critically and at the box office. Whether it’s Naseeruddin Shah playing the common man in the acclaimed A Wednesday or John Abraham turning into a terrorist as an act of revenge in New York, films based on this international menace have captured the attention of audiences.
Two latest mega-budget films — the recently released Kurbaan and the forthcoming My Name is Khan — both have a terror angle to them. At a time when cities like London, Madrid and even Mumbai have been engulfed by terror attacks, Bollywood filmmakers are exploring the human angle behind this global menace. What is it about these movies that have the viewers hooked? Why do they strike a chord with the audience?
The fact that terrorism is striking in our own country, besides our neighbourhood and other parts of the globe, makes a huge impact, believes Rajkumar Gupta, director of the critically acclaimed Rajeev Khandelwal-starrer Aamir. “When in school, we would hear of terror attacks in places like Afghanistan and Kashmir, and nobody would’ve imagined then that it could happen right here, right now. There are bomb blasts happening everywhere around us and filmmakers are getting inspired by what they are seeing around them. The audience too wants to know about this reality. So it’s a mix of the audience’s curiosity and the filmmaker being influenced by his surroundings that leads to such movies,” he says.
Of course, dealing with terrorism doesn’t always ensure that the film will get a great response. As director of the highly praised A Wednesday, Neeraj Pandey points out, “There are many movies on terrorism which haven’t worked at the box office because they deal with the issue in a flimsy manner and cannot connect with the audience.” Only some stories have struck a chord with the audience and have done well at the BO because they have made sense to the viewers, believes Neeraj, adding, “A film works when the audience can connect with it and can relate to a situation and emotions. Any human interest story which has a point will connect with a larger audience base. Audience will reject an issue-based film if it doesn’t make sense.”
The fact that movies like Aamir, Mumbai Meri Jaan and A Wednesday are well made is what appealed to the audience, says actor Rajeev Khandelwal, who played the title role in Aamir. “Terror is not a typical Bollywood subject and it is something that hasn’t been explored much by our cinema. Films based on terrorism need a lot of research and in-depth study, they aren’t run-of-the-mill flicks and that is why they have caught the fancy of the audience,” says Rajeev.
While he believes that Aamir struck a chord as it was fresh and new, he also mentions that not all terror-related movies made in the past two to three years have done well. “The movie’s outcome depends on several factors like what you wish to convey, how you convey it and whether there is any message you want to convey,” says the actor. Each time a film about terrorism is released, it generates a lot of interest from a cinematic point of view and not necessarily because the Indian audiences have seen terror happening around them in the recent past, says Rajeev, adding, “It’s like saying India won the cricket World Cup so that’s why a film on cricket would work!”
There has always been a lot of ambiguity about who makes for a villain in our society, opines film critic Mayank Shekar. “In the 50s, a rich Zamindar, a tormenter, was the villain. In the 70s and 80s, it was the rich father who didn’t let his son or daughter marry his poor lover, who was the bad one. There have been changes over the years, but we haven’t been able to pinpoint one person who represents villainy in our society. But when it comes to terrorists, they are unanimously viewed as villains and terrorism is used in many movies with religion as a backdrop,” he says.
While there are many movies made on the subject, the ones that are gripping tend to attract the audience because terrorism is right now a burning issue, says Shekar. With Indians witnessing terrorist strikes in their homeland, is it curiosity to understand the psyche of a terrorist that drives them to such movies? “We have witnessed so much around us. The psyche of a terrorist who is amongst us and behaves so violently is a study in itself. There is nothing that unites the entire society against something and terrorism is one thing that comes closest to uniting us,” he says.
With a plethora of films targeting this international menace, are filmmakers indirectly glorifying terrorism? A star like John Abraham turns terrorist in New York and Naseeruddin Shah takes the law into his hands in A Wednesday — do these films in any way give out a wrong message to youngsters? Neeraj doesn’t agree that A Wednesday gives out a wrong message. “In fact, the opposite of this is what is told in the movie. And I don’t think we are glorifying terrorism in any way. Each person has a different perspective and take on everything. It’s high time we accept the menace called terrorism — we should encourage such films,” he says.
Any filmmaker in his or her right mind wouldn’t aim at glorifying terrorism, says Rajkumar. “Personally I don’t believe in that — nobody would want to glorify terrorism. It’s just that as filmmakers, we have various perspectives which we want to showcase on screen,” he opines.
Filmmakers are actually condemning terrorism and not glorifying it on the silver screen, believes Rajeev. “Today’s viewers are sensible and mature and can differentiate between right and wrong — they will not get carried away by hearsay. Today’s intelligent generation will not get influenced by SRK playing Don or John turning into a terrorist. It is just someone’s viewpoint that is shown on celluloid in such movies. In fact, such movies give out positive messages to the youth,” he says.
There has always been an element of glorification of crime and the underworld in our movies, believes Mayank. “While Satya and Company were fine films, if you see the films from the perspective of the people in it, at no point do you feel that these dons are to be hated — such films only humanise them.” The element of glorification in a terror-based film depends on what standpoint a movie takes, he says, adding, “If you take A Wednesday, the common man takes the law into his hands because he is frustrated — that was the purpose of the flick. Such views should be debated and condemned in public. Taking law into one’s hands caused destruction in a film like Rang De Basanti, but in A Wednesday, Naseeruddin Shah gets away scot-free. But a film like New York takes a neutral worldview.”
With a multitude of Hindi films dealing with terrorism hitting the screens, does he think the audience will get tired of the much-debated subject? “We’ve been watching romances and comedies since years and we aren’t tired of them. In the same way, if movies based on terror have something unique to say each time, then it’s fine,” answers Mayank.
With big stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Kajol, Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor starring in films which have terrorism as a backdrop, terror seems to have captured celluloid to a large extent. And with the subject being treated differently in each movie, the audience can gear up for more realism on the silver screen.