Kishwar Desai, Author As India grapples with modernity, cinema is a common casualty because it is the premier medium which reflects social change in a free society. Whenever new ideas are explored, there is always a backlash from the die-hard conservatives who prefer to maintain status quo. Bollywood is also an easy target because the contentious issues raised by irate groups are often non-intellectual and easy to understand. There is nothing complex about objecting to the use of a certain word, or the wearing of a certain dress, so anyone can join in the flagellation. However, what serial agitators must realise is that controversies may end up benefitting the victim more than the slogan shouter. Occasionally, the victim may back down and apologise but now more and more sympathy lies with those who are being hung and quartered. So the message is, watch out. India is changing. We are becoming bolder, more self-confident globally and so are we within the country.
Confrontations have always dogged cinema but their nature has changed. In the old days, the controversies in Indian cinema were more to do with what was being depicted onscreen. Therefore the “kiss”, after featuring in numerous early films suddenly became “obscene” in the land of Kamasutra. And bowing to Gandhian Victorian values (much as we bow to MNS and Shiv Sena today), the kiss was removed from the screen. Actors could lie in bed together and practically do everything but not kiss. In many ways, this kind of censorship by the Congress government appointed Censor Board somehow gave the false notion to the moral police that everything on screen had to be viewed very strictly through a moral lens.
Full Story: My name is controversy - Daily Pioneer
Confrontations have always dogged cinema but their nature has changed. In the old days, the controversies in Indian cinema were more to do with what was being depicted onscreen. Therefore the “kiss”, after featuring in numerous early films suddenly became “obscene” in the land of Kamasutra. And bowing to Gandhian Victorian values (much as we bow to MNS and Shiv Sena today), the kiss was removed from the screen. Actors could lie in bed together and practically do everything but not kiss. In many ways, this kind of censorship by the Congress government appointed Censor Board somehow gave the false notion to the moral police that everything on screen had to be viewed very strictly through a moral lens.
Full Story: My name is controversy - Daily Pioneer
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