क्या गीता, क्या वाणी और कुरान
क्या उपनिषाद और क्या पुराण
कहा है खुदा और कहां राम
काबा काशी या गोरखधाम?
कौन है ईसा और कौन कृष्णा
छल-कपट ... है सब तृष्णा
मंदिर मस्जिद और गुरुद्वारे
चारों धाम और तीरथ सारे
शिरडी, अमृतसर और अजमेर
बालू-पत्थर के है ढेर
क्या चर्च और क्या अज्ञारी
हर जगह है पैसों के पुजारी.
भजन कीर्तन और माला
सोना हार और चांदी थाला
रोज़ आता लाखों का चढ़ावा
धर्म को व्यापार बना डाला
होली दीवाली और हर त्योहार
बिकते है मुरली और ऊंकार
....तस्वीरों में रिश्तें नहीं खोते
ख्वाबो में किश्ते नहीं होते
बातों का कारवां न रुकता
कल के सामने आज न झुकता
यादों की ज़रुरत न होती
इतिहास की हैसियत न होती
तारीखों में हकीकत न खोती
खतों की शख्सियत न होती
कैलेंडर से उम्र नापना न पड़ता
घडी से ज़िन्दगी मापना न पड़ता
अख़बारों में 'आपके सितारें' न छपते
हर कोई, हर लम्हा माला न जापता
...वक्त अगर लहरों की तरह होता
तो पल भर के लिए ही सही
तुम तुम होती, मैं मैं होता
The new wave of cinema in the Hindi film industry is just a decade old. And within ten years it has matured, and has been able to ably judge the sentiments of the multiplex hopping audience, that is not afraid to test and taste new waters. In the epochal flux through which the entire Indian bourgeosie is going through, has ignited a curiosity for the unknown... both in the external and the internal world. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise to us, that psychological abberations, have caught the fancy of a class that is trying to forge an identity for itself.
It all started with dyslexia, followed by alzheimer's, paraplegia (though not strictly a psychological disorder, but as exotic nonetheless) and now Asperger's Syndrome. For a nation, whose interaction with the workings of a mind, has been limited (in the scientic sense, and not the spiritual), these 'disorders' not only provide a window to the unknown (thereby, giving a sense of adventure...thrill...FUN) but also are foreign in terms of speech, thus, making it exotic.
The exoticity is also conspicuous in the portrayal. Although the films claim to be on and about these disorders, but the truth is that, the aberrations are no better than adornments. Taare Zameen Par was supposed to highlight the trials and the tribulations of a dyslexic child. Though, dyslexia is present throughout the film, its role is not more than that of a side kick. THe film is not about the child, rather it is about the teacher, who understands the fallings of a decadent education system. it would have had hardly mattered had the child not been dyslexic. The film would have had been still able to capture the functioning of the pressure cooker society. Dyslexia,just adds to the glamour, and acts as an sttractant to the 'I am not too sure about my identity, but stil the Master of Myself' type of audience.
In the same manner, Paa, was not about Auro's paraplegia, rather it was a love story gone sour turned sweet by tragedy. Had Auro not been paraplegic, would that have had made any difference to the film? Would the film had been less effective?
And in Karan Johar's latest offering, My Name is Khan, Aspergers' Syndrome is just an adornment. MNIK did not require help from Asperger to underscore the wave of discrimination that has washed the shores of almost every land that has had a rendezvous with terrorism. Aspergers' Syndrone just adds to the glam quotient, and to the 'Dont be a Stupid, Be an Idiot' Janta, this makes for 'intelligent' viewing.
What I am trying to say is that these films would have worked even if they hadn't spent hours scouring a Psychiatrist's Handbook looking for fancy names. And films about the disorders will never work... because these disorders are afterall diseases, and diseases are not glamourous. Such filmmakers, will still have to slug it out for a Sunday afternoon slot on DD National to showcase their labour.
