Why we must watch movies like ‘Samrat Prithviraj’ even if they are not flawless

Still from Samrat Prithviraj

In the course of this year, Hindi cinema is set to take a giant leap with movies like Samrat Prithviraj, Brahmastra, Ram Setu and Adipurush, among others. These movies aim to retell the valour in our history, immortalise our Itihaas and reincarnate our facts through the cinematic space. Movies such as these need to be appreciated and supported for the sheer courage of the filmmakers in trying to redefine what type of cinema we view in this country. Ever since the release of the trailers of these movies, some busybodies are trying to nitpick faults in order to malign the very idea behind these movies. Criticism is welcome but we must not dig into old statements of the actors from past movies and run boycott trends, it will not affect the actors or the production houses much but it will be detrimental to the very cause of bringing back the great and brave past of our Bharat on the big screen in a grand manner.

What is important to be understood is the intent behind the movies and the benchmarking the commercial success of such movies can achieve for the future movies and the themes around which they are made. There are flaws, no doubt, but at this juncture when the Hindi movie industry is still redefining itself, minor flaws in dialogues or lyrics of the songs should not be the parameter to judge the movies. Such big projects ride on the aspirations of many Bharatiya filmmakers who want to make content around Bharatiya cinema but fail to do so because of the lack of commercial viability of such projects. Thus it is all the more important to support movies that celebrate our samskriti, history, our deities and heritage.

These movies will most likely bring a paradigm shift in the movie industry. The industry which has for far too long promoted content which is not Bharatiya in its design or outlook deserves the much-needed shift. Commercial successes of movies such as Samrat Prithviraj, Brahmastra, Ram Setu and Adipurush will go a long way in redefining what determines commercial success in the Hindi movie industry currently as well as in the future. Let’s understand this a bit more.

Bharatiya cinema is at a very precarious stage of metamorphosis. It is seeing transition both in its content as well as its medium of dissemination. Bharatiya cinema, especially Hindi cinema, is at the cusp of a renaissance. It is desperately trying to break away from the communist clutches in order to redefine itself. After 75 years of Independence, the Hindi cinema industry is today trying to gather enough courage to tell Bharatiya stories from its own perspective. It no longer wants to tell stories from the myopic lenses of the West or the imperial designs of the communists. The Hindi cinema industry is finally hearing the screams of its audience. The screams contain in themselves the anguish of being deprived of good quality content which is Bharatiya in its perspective. The sound of the screams along with the losses at the box office has forced the Hindi cinema industry to push forward content which is Bharatiya in its outlook and design.

The Hindi film industry is trying to ride in this wave of Indic renaissance and pitch forth its own version of Bharatiya stories. The courage of a few filmmakers who have taken up this endeavour deserves our appreciation. This courage in content making deserves our support in order to promote similar content in the future. Our support to such cinemas currently can form the bedrock of how the film industry is going to shape up in the next couple of decades. This is even more important looking at the impact such cinema will have on the next generations in understanding our history and samskriti. It is our dharma to promote such cinema for the love of our nation and our samskriti.

The oldest literature on theatre and drama, Bharat Muni’s Natya Shastra, puts education at the fulcrum of theatre and drama. Education through art and theatre has been a timeless goal of Bharatiya samskriti. However, this art, theatre or even cinema for that matter thrives on economics. The greater the money influx the more is the spread of different forms of art in a land. The same has been observed in Bharat. When the nation was at the peak of its economic prowess, art and samskriti spread throughout the country. In the present-day economic world, the content which has a chance of reaping the maximum benefits is most likely to get reproduced or even emulated in one form or the other. If not the content, then the theme gets replicated through various art forms owing to the higher chances of profitability of the content or the theme. Thus for a particular type of content or theme of content to be replicated or reproduced there needs to be a certain degree of profitability attached to it.

This is more so because of the high chances of failure of the content currently in Bharat owing to high content competitiveness and the exposure of cinema lovers to the high-quality global content. In Bharat, only 30-35 percent of India’s population has access to movies. The ratio is only eight cinema screens per million. According to the FICCI Frames Report 2018, India only has 8,530 cinema screens in the country compared to over 40,000 in both China and the United States. This creates a very competitive environment and increases the risk for filmmakers in the country. Moreover, piracy is a big issue for filmmakers in Bharat. Online film piracy rose 62 percent post-Covid in the country. For this the viewers of pirated content are as much to be blamed as the pirates.

Also the audience is very choosy in terms of the type of content it wants to view. According to Statista, 79 per cent of the audience prefers comedy, 60 per cent prefer action while 39 per cent prefer drama and only 34 per cent prefer historical subject-oriented movies. Thus, the risk is more for filmmakers in Bharat, especially those making historical and period dramas. This is more so at a time when the film industry is trying to find the right fit with the Bharatiya audience. This is why the content which promotes Bharatiya samskriti, history or tradition needs to be supported and promoted for encouraging other filmmakers to take the necessary risk of shunning the old Western or communist storytelling in order to embrace new Bharat.

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If we were to establish a fortress of new Bharat with strong roots, then cinema should form the strongest pillar of it. Our promotion of selective content will drive the way the cinema shapes up for the future. It’s not that we haven’t done it in the end, we must show the unity to stand behind such honest attempts to showcase our rich history and heritage in a magnanimous way. We must encourage our friends, family relatives who have never watched movies to come forward and watch such movies which speak highly of our heritage and history. There will always be some who will purposefully demoralise people to boycott or abstain from watching but as a duty of dharma, we need to go all out to support as we did in the case of The Kashmir Files. These are not just movies but our pride and identities.

The Hindi film industry deserves most of the criticism for the content it has pushed for the last four decades or so. But, in the current scenario when Bharat is in its phase of Indic renaissance and the Bharatiya film industry is an important facet of this renaissance, the movies which tell our tales from our perspectives shouldn’t be met with unnecessary criticism. Small and minor flaws of the movie should be overlooked for the greater message. This is primarily because if the film industry is channelised properly then it has the potential to expedite this phase of Indic renaissance.

The same understanding was also highlighted in the recently concluded conclave of Cine Talks ‘Cine Srishti, Bharath Drishti’ organised by Sanskar Bharti where the imminent need to promote Bharatiya stories was highlighted. Also, in the conclave it was highlighted how Lokmanya Tilak supported Dadasaheb Phalke and aligned the cinema industry to the freedom struggle. Moreover, the conclave also touched upon the versatility required in a ‘Natak’ encompassing all the different ‘Rasas’ highlighting the necessity of it for the commercial success of ‘Natak’ or movies in the present context.

Today, the film industry is the biggest source of soft power the world over. It helps the West in pushing its narratives. It is high time the Bharatiya film industry, especially the Hindi film industry, plays its role in the Indic renaissance and expedites it. It can act as the much-needed catalyst in awakening the people to the greatness of Bharatiya samskriti, its itihasa, its folktales and its ancient wisdom. For too long, the cinema industry has passed the buck and shunned its responsibility.

The writer is Executive CCO, VSK Mumbai, and Advisor, VESIM Literati Festival, Prabuddha Bharat Belagavi, Khajuraho Literature Festival. He tweets from @MODIfied_SKP. Views expressed are personal.

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