That Era, that World: Old but much Advanced
If you are a 90’s kid and were a movie buff, this article is relatable to you. My writing will be a reflection of how issues that we speak of in today’s world and depict it in the form of movies and theater plays has already been talked about in detail, in the past. The only reason it never gained popularity was either viewers chose to ignore it or unfortunately never heard about it. Thanks to the over impactful social media these days that unconventional artwork is given a place in the society that it deserves and is able to make its presence feel in the world of cinemas.
From gay love to child molestation, there has been a commendable performance observed by the artists 15 -20 years back; the time when all we were aware about cinemas was puppy love, teenage romance, brainless comedy, good looking superheroes and sex appeal of fair and toned actresses. Be it ShahRukh Khan’s chocolate boy looks, Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgan’s action hero stunts, Govinda’s weird dressing and epic comic timing, Raveena Tandon’s thumkas, Sonali Bendre’s killer face or Salman Khan’s Macho –man’s physic ; that was all the world would go gaga about , when talked about Bollywood. But guess what, there was the other side of it too, which is known to a very few of us.
Some out of the box thinkers, creative executioners and gutsy humans who dared to go way ahead of their times have brought to the table a beautiful description of incidents that are being played behind the scenes in our real lives. We address these humans as art directors who, with their broader outlook towards life produced some cult and life changing movies. They are not liked by many, as the society considers them to be torch bearers of “spoiling the generation”. In India, families are still not open to talking about subjects like sex, safe sex, rape, molestation, infatuation, puberty and menstruation. They believe it to be a tabooed topic of discussion for cultured people. So, if you discuss these things in public forums, you can evaluate how uncultured you are :-)
It’s sad that nobody thought of these uncultured topics could have reduced the crime rate in our country which is currently growing with the fastest pace ever. We talk about modernization only in terms of fashion and technology but forget that the basic essence of modern approach lies in an individual’s thought process. Despite hanging out with your “cool” friends, sipping the most expensive beer, dressing up in branded outfits, talking about changing the world, you never thought to dig deeper into your own thoughts. Checking out a good looking man or woman is natural, but making it obvious to them is grossness, not being able to control on your sexual desires and molesting a child or a teenage makes you no less than a demon, not being able to talk about your homosexuality in public due to fear of disapproval or rejection from the group is prejudice. Only if these set of “cool” individuals could have had the chance to watch some of the finest motion pictures which our country has given us to educate ourselves on sensitive issues like offbeat romance, biological changes, unconditional love, recognizing the power of the suppressed, accepting oneness in true sense and respecting individual choices.
Lets look at some interesting movies that enlighten us with these issues that still does not sink-in in our society to many.
a. Fire- A 1996 Indian romantic drama that describes intimate relationship in a close minded society between two women whose husbands chose celibacy over them.
b. Monsoon Wedding- Every third girl in India is a victim of child abuse/child molestation. The movie portraits how a below teenage girl was molested by her uncle. The dark truth was unknown to the family until she spoke up about it when she was 30 in a family function when the same monster was trying to molest one of her cousins who was as young as she was when was molested.
c. Water — Highlights the suffering of young widow in a Hindu ashram where she is suppose to atone fr her sins, who lost her husband due to unexpected death.
d. Chandni Bar- Plight of a woman who is forced to leave her family and village and move to a different city becoming a bar dancer.
e. Page 3 — A page 3 journalist who discovers there is lot more to the glamour industry than lavish parties, gossips, drinks and their insecurities. She found out the of an epic heart wrenching child drug abuse case which was carried out by one of the Page 3 celebrities she interviewed at the parties.
The time is gradually changing, acceptability and viewers of art films has increased but the crime rate is still not deteriorating. Probably the messages these films try to send out is not taken in the right spirit. A movie based on child rights is not just to make you cry for that short span and forget once you step out of the house seeing a kid starving of hunger and you refuse to buy them even a loaf of bread. A movie projecting homosexuality is not for enjoyment of seeing two men/women having sex, it’s to bring to your knowledge that they exist and it’s very normal; it’s about making them feel as normal as you do to your other friends. A movie depicting teacher and child romance is not to make fun of the relationship but to realize that love has no age bar if it’s true and makes the people involved in it happy. A movie trying to throw light on child molestation is not an encouragement for you to go back to the younger ones around you and molest them, it’s for you to not let this happen anywhere around you and stand up against this crime.
The day you start receiving the messages correctly in your head, your chest and heart will swell with pride of those creators who challenged the world and brought this content available to all of us in the form of cinema.
