So there’s a huge hue and cry about PK being banned. Tirades and harangues by puppets of zealotry plays in a loop on all news channels. And why not? How could we let a movie made on religion just exist? It had to hurt our sentiments and we had to express our displeasure. We have had enough of this already. Kamal Hassan’s Vishwaroopam had been banned. Satanic Verses as well as Salman Rushdie are inaccessible to us all. Tasleema Nasreen speaks from exile.
What amused me the most was that the bench of Hindu Godmen who had appeared on a popular news channel to express their displeasure against a certain Khan taking digs against Hinduism upon being asked if they had watched the movie replied in the negative. Now, firstly for those who have an issue with that: He’s only the actor who’s acting according to a script, penned by someone else. Besides in a country that has its majority practice Hinduism it makes so much more sense to have their beliefs being ridiculed. Are our values so weak that we need to ban a film? Why does almost always anything on religion make us uncomfortable.The movie doesn’t hurt our sentiments, it questions their premise. If we can take a dip in the holy Ganges, burn incense sticks regularly, observe faiths, we must also answer the curious with aplomb.
I believe in times when terrorism, love jihad, forced conversions and riots carnage precious innocent lives and add an ugly dimension to religion the so called protectors of religion who call the shots must take the opportunity to explain what actually religion stands for. The questions need to be answered. It ain’t blasphemy. As the leading lady of the satire pointed out, we humans have the unique ability of logic and reasoning and must use the same.Where is this intolerance going to take us?
The USP of the movie are the wise cracks that question our blind faith. Rajkumar Hirani is a man who believes in writing marvelous scripts. Accompanied by an adept Abhijat Joshi, they go on to create a genius masterpiece. The screenplay depicts perfectly what makes us believe in the Almighty. I believe its Indian cinema at its zenith. They have questioned many things, hitting the bulls eye. It’s perhaps the same questions I asked Dad and was quieted. When PK asks the same my heart resonates in unison. Needless to say his discovery of religion is more of spirituality.
While the agnostic script writers challenged the world views via the curious yet innocent eyes of the alien, it must be emphasized thatthey didn’t deny the existence of a supreme power.
Yes, koi firki le raha tha ya shayad wrong number tha. The strength and hope invoked by faith is humongous, but we must ensure that aren’t blinded by them. A sense of reasoning must always empower what we do. We live in troubled times. It doesn’t take people time to kill each other in the name of religion. The movie didn’t ask us to be atheists. The protests are by those who failed to get the message, a strong one.
Another baseless allegation was that most movie reviewers grumbled of it having a slight similarity with OMG. So what? Why don’t we complain when in the name of rom-coms we are served the same shit again and again? Why is it only that if a movie has been made challenging our world views another one can’t be made? All the music in the world originates out of the 7 basic tunes. PK is superb. The writers have used intelligent analogies,a rare in a Hindi film. For instance, the alien didn’t know what attire to wear initially but later he discovers that clothes are different because our anatomies are. He, however,keeps looking for a thappa that’d tell him his religion;driving home the fact that perhaps it was inded man who created God in its contemporary form.
Now that mainstream cinema has asked the question twice, it’s time we asked ourselves how right are we in our beliefs.
It’d perhaps be better if we taught our kids to show compassion towards the maid’s kids rather than to put money in the daan-peti upon every visit to the temple.
Perhaps we should acquaint them more with the inner conscience then idols.
Perhaps the world would be a better place if we believed God to reside in each of our hearts rather than a piece of stone.
Movies were never meant to be a mirror reflecting the good and bad in society.They are supposed to be a hammer that’d mould our thought process. They are supposed to lead us on a more righteous path.
PK is a right number, not an incorrect one! Aur yeh connection lullwa nahi honi chahiye!
