Pakistan should be depicted with respect in Bollywood films: Indian directors

This year saw the release of three major films, namely Mulk, Raazi and Manto, which showed a soft image of Pakistan

Rajeev Masand’s The Directors Roundtable somehow always manages to highlight important aspects of film-making in Bollywood. The Indian journalist brings together a host of actors to discuss issues plaguing the industry and what can be done to eradicate them.

This time, however, the focus wasn’t just on India but Pakistan too. Well, at least the portrayal of Pakistan in Indian films which, refreshingly, has been rather positive of late.

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This year saw the release of three major Bollywood films, namely Mulk, Raazi and Manto, which showed a soft image of Pakistan. In Meghna Gulzar’s Raazi, for instance, there was no sense of jingoism even though the storyline was based on internal politics between the two neighbouring countries.

The Pakistani characters in the film were treated with as much sensitivity as their Indian counterparts and to have a big star like Alia Bhatt star in such a film made it even better.

PHOTO: INDIAN EXPRESS

Masand brought Gulzar together with Manto director Nandita Das and Mulk’s Shoojit Sircar to discuss this change in ideology. Asked if they were happy that they were able to show these stories and felt that it was high time to Pakistan was shown with sensitivity, Das said, "Absolutely. It was needed for sure and I think that is why all three of us engaged on the subject."

Adding to this, Gulzar said, "To be able to do it was also something like this was very liberating. I am coming from a place where, there was a time where you couldn't even say ‘Pakistan’ in a film and one was restricted to using worlds like ‘uss taraf (that side)’ or ‘parosi (neighbour)’ etc…So, to be able to say ‘Pakistan’ now in a film is a big step forward."

PHOTO: RISHI KAPOOR/TWITTER

Talking about how so many Pakistani singers lend their voices to Bollywood songs, Sircar said, "We are collaborating on a creative process. We are not dividing but rather uniting so what is the harm in it?”

Another important point raised in The Directors Roundtable was the fact that no international has ever been allowed to shoot in Pakistan and any scenes picturised on Pakistan have to be shot in parts of India or Kashmir.


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