Bollywood rewrites history

History sells on screen if marketed well in contemporary Bollywood. Even as the Mahatma returns on reel again in a biopic about Harilal Gandhi ( Gandhi My Father ), are historical films the flavour of the season, especially with Ashutosh Gowarikar’s Jodhaa Akbar lined up for release soon? A year after Gandhigiri became uber cool, thanks to Rajkumar Hirani’s Lage Raho Munnabhai , does mainstream cinema make people more conscious about a historical leader?

Rajendra Khimani, registrar of Gujarat Vidyapith, Ahmedabad says, “Mass media tends to sensitise you about a topic, an individual or a period of history. But, without proper implementation, it is a futile effort.� Agrees Kamlesh Pandey, scriptwriter of Rang De Basanti (a film that contemporised Bhagat Singh and made rebellion against the system cool).

“When you watch a movie, you want entertainment, not sermons. Sensible things said in the film are an added bonus.� Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra endorses this, “Cinema is overwhelmingly about entertainment. It does not change society, political movements do that. If a film can inspire people to launch a movement, then the above statement is true.�