There is a reason why the screening of "Buddha in a Traffic Jam" created a furore in JU, JNU and the likes. The students of JU especially got quite violent and damaged the car that the director Vivek Agnihotri was traveling in to the university for the screening of the film. The car was not his. It was driven by a driver who was answerable to his owner for the damage and being poor, was wondering how he was going to compensate for the damages caused by the very people that champion their cause. The Director is left with a shoulder injury.
The movie, based on actual events in the life of the Director, kicked up quite a storm at some of the leftist bastions of our country who it seems have the sole right and authority to speak for the poor and downtrodden. Any alternate narrative that actually highlights the true plight of these tribals whose life is stuck in a cruel game at the hands of naxals/politicos/NGO/academia cabals is anathema to them, as, directly or indirectly they are intricately mixed in with this concoction. The so called cheerleaders of Freedom of Speech and Expression suddenly find themselves all twisted up in knots when such a narrative tries to see the light of day. I wonder if our general populace is registering this irony of all this at all. Intolerance and Freedom of Expression are guaranteed rights of only the 'guardian angels' of the poor who would rather the poor remain poor. For otherwise, what would they yell and scream about?
As one politician in the movie notes, "If they start making money then they will stop coming to me." The "they" here are the tribal of Bastar. As an enthusiastic MBA student tries to cut out the middleman to get the money and means directly to the tribals, the Naxals/NGO/politico/academia nexus finds itself in a very uncomfortable situation. I wonder if the students of JU and JNU felt the same way at truth being exposed and thus tried to shout and beat the director down before the screening. How young impressionable minds are systematically brainwashed and made into unfortunate pawns of this dangerous coterie (reminds one of the likes of Kanhaiyya) is very chillingly exposed in this movie. There is an impassioned monologue at the end by Anupam Kher, playing a professor in the movie, on a need for revolution and the merits of Lal Salaam etc. that is disturbing to say the least. What was even more disturbing for me was when Vivek at the end of the movie got up and told us (this was after a private screening) that this was no melodramatic filmy dialog, but an actual monologue his own professor had delivered to him when he was in college. This was strongly echoed by many in the audience who had experienced similar diatribes by their professors.
This is a hard hitting film on this unholy nexus, in which, in reality, the media is also inextricably co-mingled. However, if you belong to the camp where you consider Kanhaiyya as your hero, or think shouting anti-national slogans is very much part of freedom of speech and expression (while denying the rights to screen a film on your campus), this movie is not for you. If you are those that shout from your air- conditioned rooms for the rights of poor, again, do me a favour and don't watch this movie. Watch it only if you truly care about this country and how an ideology espoused by a small but very powerful and moneyed minority can take the whole country to ransom.
The movie, based on actual events in the life of the Director, kicked up quite a storm at some of the leftist bastions of our country who it seems have the sole right and authority to speak for the poor and downtrodden. Any alternate narrative that actually highlights the true plight of these tribals whose life is stuck in a cruel game at the hands of naxals/politicos/NGO/academia cabals is anathema to them, as, directly or indirectly they are intricately mixed in with this concoction. The so called cheerleaders of Freedom of Speech and Expression suddenly find themselves all twisted up in knots when such a narrative tries to see the light of day. I wonder if our general populace is registering this irony of all this at all. Intolerance and Freedom of Expression are guaranteed rights of only the 'guardian angels' of the poor who would rather the poor remain poor. For otherwise, what would they yell and scream about?
As one politician in the movie notes, "If they start making money then they will stop coming to me." The "they" here are the tribal of Bastar. As an enthusiastic MBA student tries to cut out the middleman to get the money and means directly to the tribals, the Naxals/NGO/politico/academia nexus finds itself in a very uncomfortable situation. I wonder if the students of JU and JNU felt the same way at truth being exposed and thus tried to shout and beat the director down before the screening. How young impressionable minds are systematically brainwashed and made into unfortunate pawns of this dangerous coterie (reminds one of the likes of Kanhaiyya) is very chillingly exposed in this movie. There is an impassioned monologue at the end by Anupam Kher, playing a professor in the movie, on a need for revolution and the merits of Lal Salaam etc. that is disturbing to say the least. What was even more disturbing for me was when Vivek at the end of the movie got up and told us (this was after a private screening) that this was no melodramatic filmy dialog, but an actual monologue his own professor had delivered to him when he was in college. This was strongly echoed by many in the audience who had experienced similar diatribes by their professors.
This is a hard hitting film on this unholy nexus, in which, in reality, the media is also inextricably co-mingled. However, if you belong to the camp where you consider Kanhaiyya as your hero, or think shouting anti-national slogans is very much part of freedom of speech and expression (while denying the rights to screen a film on your campus), this movie is not for you. If you are those that shout from your air- conditioned rooms for the rights of poor, again, do me a favour and don't watch this movie. Watch it only if you truly care about this country and how an ideology espoused by a small but very powerful and moneyed minority can take the whole country to ransom.