Indu Sarkar Continues To Be In Trouble, Partition: 1947 Waits For Its 'Tryst With Destiny': Bollywood Is Certainly Not Ready For Uncomfortable Truths - Part II

By Joginder Tuteja

A few days back in Part I of this feature, I wrote about whether Bollywood audience is indeed ready to see uncomfortable truths unfold on the big screen. I specifically mentioned examples of films like Indu Sarkar and Partition: 1947. Well, as days have gone past by, and protests have already started to build up (especially around Indu Sarkar), it is crystal clear - Bollywood indeed would have to wait for a while before films that bring to fore some harsh realities begin to find an easy way into theaters.

I talk about this and more in (the concluding) Part II of this feature.

Not a day has passed by since one hasn't heard about the kind of troubles that filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar is facing for his Indu Sarkar. While there have been protests in each and every city that he is visiting to promote his film, there have been ample hints thrown around how his film's eventual release on 28th July would be thwarted as well. Thankfully, protests haven't turned violent so far. However, what is quite apparent is that situation is only going to aggravate in the coming week.

On the filmmaker's part, he is claiming to have picked up realities as have been available in the history books and the other written and visual material that is available around the emergency. Add to that the fictional element and he is aiming to make this a cinematic experience that is an eye opener as well as entertaining. At his end, he is neither aiming to trivialize the entire episode from the mid-70s nor is he looking at sensationalizing the chain of events. He is trying to showcase a balanced approach but as it turns out for a film with a controversial subject line, Indi Sarkar too is getting its fair share of trouble.

Of course, for many out there, the adage of 'any publicity is good publicity' could well be turning out to be true. As a matter of fact it has helped Indu Sarkar too and somewhere the makers won't really mind the mileage coming out of it. That said, there is a limit to how much can such publicity can actually help a film's cause and the time has indeed come when the team of Madhur Bhandarkar, Bharat Shah, Kirti Kulhari, Neil Nitin Mukesh, Tota Roy Chowdhury and Anupam Kher could well be wondering around all of this coming to a logical conclusion and true subject matter doing all the talking.

However, there is trouble in paradise as so much fire has been ignited that now all eyes are on how Indu Sarkar would eventually be received, in what shape and format (courtesy the Censor board) and the audience reaction that would finally come in. These are turning out to be tense moments indeed, more so since soon enough Bollywood would have another controversial film arriving in theaters - Partition: 1947.

So far, this 'untold conspiracy' around what transpired back in 1946-47 is at a stage where there is more curiosity (than anything troublesome) around how the decision was taken to divide India and Pakistan. However, given the fact that it is arriving close to the Independence Day [15th August], the topical relevance is at an all time high.

70 years have gone by since the ugly chapter unfolded from the history of India and rest assured, many a wound could well be reopened once this cinematic saga by Gurinder Chadha unveils on the big screen. The promo has pretty much given an impression that the film would be an eye opener of sorts and the classy treatment as evidenced in there also makes one sure that this is going to make a lot of noise on the international platform as well.

While one doesn't really foresee much of a challenge when it comes to the international exposure to this film which has Huma Qureshi as a Bollywood actress playing an important part in the narrative, out here in India where the film belongs it could well be a different story altogether. The film's release is less than a month away (it arrives on 18th August) and things are expected to heat up on a speedy note once Gurinder begins to talk about the film and her team of actors further adds on to that in unison.

The question though is - Will Bollywood show good enough maturity to listen to this uncomfortable truth?