LAHORE – “Pakistan is a wonderful place, with beautiful people, but it is fighting a war which is so dangerous and so destructive that no other country can imagine what it must be like,” says Mahesh Bhatt. The man, celebrated as one of the most successful and best filmmakers in India, is sitting composed and casual, not caring about any of the aura that surrounds him. He is unaware of his status, it seems, as a celebrity, and in fact finds himself to simply be Mahesh Bhatt, who loves watching and making films, and discovering places and people.
Bhatt visited Lahore on yet another one of his Indian expeditions where he is an avid advocate of peace talks between the two neighbours.
FEELING THE VIBES: Dressed casually in a white shirt and blue jeans, Bhatt wants to talk about the vibes of the trauma he feels when he is here in Pakistan. “There is a war here that the rest of the world has no idea about,” he continues and his former relaxed expression all at once drops and changes into serious contemplation. “I have seen the pain and the strength both in the faces of the widows of soldiers who fought in this war on terror, and in the eyes of the policemen who have already done or are about to do their bit in countering terrorism. And I feel sad that the world is not taking note of this situation.”
MAKING FRIENDS: Bhatt’s love for Pakistan is known by now to all and sundry. His visits to Pakistan, especially to Lahore, for peace trips, his preference for using artistic talent from Pakistan as well as from India, and in general his arms-wide-open approach for all things Pakistani, has given the director a new and a different image for many in the local populace. He says that he tries and comes every year to Pakistan if he can help it and especially in connection with building relations. Then he is known to meet with old friends and make new ones.
THE PERCEPTION: But his perception about the Pakistani society is a unique one, yet also most likely to come from an artist himself, whose in-depth observations about the society of this country is matched with complete identification from his own side. With the high profile murder of Salmaan Taseer and Shahbaz Bhatti, the face of terrorism in Pakistan has become even uglier, especially overseas. The whole world feels that the issue has become even knottier than before and must be resolved – by having Pakistan send more of its troops to one side of its own homeland, and killing not just the terrorists, but also face and succumb to collateral damage.
All this is in context with the worst floods, while the country has several different political problems, and as always socio-economic issues to deal with at the same time. “At a time like this, the rest of the world has very conveniently put Pakistan in a box, defining its image, stereotyping it, and presenting it to others,” says Bhatt. “But this country is facing a deeper level of stress and it is certainly not fair or justifiable to give it that image, and only that one.”
PUTTING THE ALLIES TOGETHER: Will relations with India help, though? Mahesh Bhatt, like any other peace activist concurs on this issue. “Of course South Asia should ally,” he says. “I am one person who is all for this. But this must be advocated first and foremost by both the governments. The governments have their own tools that they tamper with; they have certain agendas and games, and they will go according to those. That is the unfortunate part of it all. Left to the people, I am sure that both would want to end this plague of hatred on both sides.”
THE CO-DEPENDENCE: Bhatt seems more bitter towards the Western world than any other country though. “All the time we get to hear things like ‘co-dependence’ and how to help each other and everything related to it. Co-dependence is the new buzzword, but it is just that. When it comes to building bilateral relations, nothing is being done. The outer world is so self obsessed, that it does not care what is going on outside. That is such a regressive attitude is it not?” he questions. “How can you ignore that the world is automatically affected by each other? If there is radiation in Japan, the other surrounding countries will be affected instantly. So how can we ignore this?”
FILMS HE MAKES: Mahesh Bhatt’s films tend to describe individuals who suffer from a certain degree of psychological damage arising from the infringement of social norms. Much like his characters, his situations too contain deep mental and emotional damage and trauma. These films are challenging, both plot wise, and acting wise. But perhaps the biggest challenge now in making movies is based on selling them. Like any other media content, feature films too must sell.
While Bhatt is known for making films with realistic topics, it is his other films that have more than ever hit the box office, including elements of action, romance, comedy and suspense. “Cinema is now the illusion manufacturer,” says Bhatt, in a matter-of-fact manner. “It is a business, not art per se, and one must understand that to manufacture reality is not the task of the cinema. The cinema is simply meant to create films meant to sell.” Bhatt says it is unfortunate that he is unable to infiltrate elements of reality into his films, because if he does, they will not do well.
“I made a film recently called Dhoka, which dealt with the issue of a Muslim labelled a terrorist in Kashmir, but only a handful of critics applauded. It is apathy at its all time high and no one bothers to look beyond his or her own gratification from the cinema. The quality bar has been lowered that is why so much trash is being churned out,” he says shaking his head. “Anything out of the box is rejected immediately.” But that certainly does not stop Mahesh from pursuing his ideas and materializing them into forms that can be passed on to others. “I make documentaries too on those issues that I cannot put into my feature films,” says Bhatt.
“I made one recently called ‘Poison on the Platter’, which is about the genetically modified food which multinationals are giving to us,” he says. ALWAYS BUSY: Mahesh Bhatt it seems never has time to wile away. When he is not involved in movie making projects, he finds himself editing books, while he also writes for a Hindi newspaper called ‘Denek Jaagran’. “English is a language which reaches across to those belonging to the so-called educated and intellectual classes,” he says. “But Hindi speaks more to the masses. The audience for English papers look towards the west for new ideas… I guess we never could beat the colonialism out of ourselves.”
He laughs. And in that laughter truth resonates. As long as South Asia will look towards the West for the next step, it will never be able to link up with each other and resolve its own issues. It will be too busy being imperialised.
Thinking out of the Pandora’s Box
