By Sushil Kutty
There were calls to ban ‘Pathaan’ if the song ‘Besharam Rang’ wasn’t removed. Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra warned the makers of ‘Pathaan’ action would be taken. People believed him. Those for and against ‘Besharam Rang’. ‘Pathaan’ released and the song sang along in ‘besharam rang’.
Somebody must have made Mishra eat crow. There has been no word from the MP Home Minister since January 25, the day the film released to hyped-up hyperbole. Surely, it doesn’t behove a minister of his ‘Hindutva’ standing to find his words emptied of arrogance.
Film ‘reviewers’ have noticed. But, like in ‘Finding Nemo’, there is always another bigger fish. Mishra found himself facing Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had no problems with the colour of Padukone’s bikini. Why should anybody when Padukone herself had no problems?
And Modi had a strategy for 2024, and was looking at 400+ Lok Sabha seats for the BJP. The film ‘Pathaan’ is a revelation. It has bust many myths. True, it has hurt religious sentiments, and this with impunity. But in the India of today, only Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s sentiments should not and cannot be hurt. It will not be tolerated.
For millions of Hindus, Narendra Modi is ‘God’. Just like Shahrukh Khan is for the secular. Earlier, there was Sachin Tendulkar and it fetched Sachin the Bharat Ratna. The cry ‘Bharat Ratna for SRK’ is already being heard albeit faintly.
To return to topic, the sentiments of the 36 million gods and goddesses can be hurt, but not that of the Prime Minister. Modi stood in the way of the BBC documentary ‘The Modi Question’ because it hurt his sentiments, and will rubbish his reputation. So, it must be kept away from the prying eyes of the unsparing people, the voters.
But Modi also stood in the way of Narrotam Mishra who had come in the way of the makers of ‘Pathaan’ who in turn had hurt the sentiments of large sections of Modi supporters.
Modi did not care. It was not his fair name that was at stake. So, one word from Modi at the BJP national executive was sufficient to break rightwing resistance to ‘Pathaan’. And opposition to the film waned faster than the sales of tickets waxed.
Moral of the story: Ideology is only skin deep in the Modi cult. One of the revelations of ‘Pathaan’ is that it comes easy for Modi, and the BJP to change colours. As easy as ice melting in the mouth.
The Hindutva thought that for the sake of ‘Hindutva’, Modi would go to the Ocean’s deep if it required? They took his word seriously, they believed his word carried weight. They believed there was a spine to his tongue. They mistook Modi for God. They forgot the only time he played messenger of god, people folded in winding queues.
‘Pathaan’ revealed to the Hindutva hordes that Modi would dump them for his goals, and aspirations. Only now, is it dawning on them, after the release of ‘Pathaan’, with all its besharam rang intact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks only of his party’s prospects, and of his pristine image.
Everything he does and does not do is for himself, and for himself. ‘Pathaan’ revealed this Modi trait in stark relief, like that of a dried leaf kept buried for years in the folds of a couple of pages of a holy book. Hindutva protesters tore up posters, burnt SRK’s effigies, filed petitions in court against him for hurting their sentiments, and branded the film vulgar and obscene.
But to no avail. Modi stood behind SRK and ‘Pathaan’ like a rock even as he stood like a boulder against the airing the BBC documentary ‘Modi The Question’ as it hurt his standing on the global stage. Moral of the story: Modi will flip and flop depending on what helped him professionally, and what hurt him personally! That said, Modi is not a Chameleon. The only thing he changes is the colour of his eyeglasses.
Last, but not least, ‘Pathaan’ proved beyond doubt that the so-called ‘Godi Media’ is media in the lap of Modi without any doubts. The manner in which the ‘Godi Media’ is following up on Modi’s diktat to go soft on Bollywood is electrifyingly grateful. Just like Modi and the BJP, ideology never was a strong point with the ‘Godi Media’, either. (IPA Service)
