The moment one is confident of what one is doing there is no question of being hurt or affected by the surroundings. But the moment one feels insecure it means that there is something wrong happening around us. Or are we made to believe so? Have a look around you and you will notice that there are narratives that literally affect you as a religious, political, economic, and social being. But should you be disturbed by them so much as to protest and curtail creativity? The protesting narratives are fabricated majority of times, by yet again, the politically biased individuals. Who actually do not represent but misrepresent the minority community.
The entertainment industry has for long received backlash from specific communities, religions, politicians, and institutions for hurting sentiments. Books have been banned, advertisements have been taken down, films and television programmes have been censored. The protests from a select few against the creative endeavour, either displays insecurities or real intentions for discussion.
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Let us remind ourselves that art in any form has always reflected reality. But this reality is now before us in a fictionalized form. And we protest a fictional idea, instead of the reality which should have been addressed and the major concern. Art or creative endeavours could be labelled as peaceful expressions and peaceful protests. There is something the artist wants to say. And when an outsider protests even this expression, it makes one think as to how authentic both these representations are. Mostly, it is the creator of art and the representative of the government or an institution who are in conflict. The Indian constitution considers liberty of thought and expression as cardinal values of paramount importance. This gives a chance to everyone to express their hearts out.
The artist takes the liberty to express what is been cooking on in one’s mind and then portray it in the work. The intention can be varied but it is certainly for the better. Each to one’s own, the subjectivity creates a difference of opinions leading to conflicts, therefore the government enforces stringent laws to maintain order or should we say propagate a certain ideology of vital importance or still further identity politics. The laws usually silence the dissent but that being said, what about that which doesn’t fall under dissent? Why should it affect us? Insecurity is the answer.
Whether it was Padmavat, Laxmii, Tanishq Advert and in the present time the Tandav web series on Amazon India. These are movies, advertisements, and series created with a lot of love and passion for art. They portray the reality surrounding us. They speak of the mindset at a particular time in history. They hint at purely coming of age-relevant situations. But here are we affected by the fiction than the reality of the time. The moment we get an opportunity we are ready to point a gun towards the makers of this creative venture.
Interestingly those pointing the areas that have hurt their sentiments from these creative pieces try to emphasize their power. There is a larger game that is being played to gather support. More than a democracy one can get the feel of closeted totalitarianism. Where we cannot do anything but be complacent and accept whatever is happening around us because we know in any case we are going to be shut by the powerful and influential. Where there is no issue at all, you create one and make people believe that you are working for them and get their support. We are just mimicking the past. This is exactly what our conquerors did. They came to India and robbed us of our identity and offered us themselves as saviours. Not that we were better, but we were not worst as the colonialist claimed us to be.
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Our identities are addressed numerous times to garner attention. It is high time to ascertain the fact that we know our identities and stand up for ourselves. But would that suffice given that it has been happening time and again? More than ascertaining we need to understand that we have our identity and it cannot be harnessed. We ought to become confident about our identity. That would give us an opportunity to bravely accept the banters and not be affected by it. Confidence will help us break open the closet created by the totalitarians.
The numerous protests happening around the country is a wakeup call to the totalitarians that something is wrong with our democracy. Every time in history there have been people protesting but not as much as now. Given an opportunity, we can find fault with anything but that would mean that I have a different opinion and the other is entitled to one’s own. There should now be a middle path to sort out the difference. Creative endeavours shouldn’t be the target of political and religious intolerance, because these creative endeavours are handled by umpteen others who work for it day in and day out, and each of their contributions matter. It is best to accept the reality and learn to better it rather than just being sentimental about the fictional world that has affected your sensibilities. Censorship and morality are two important words that will affect the entertainment industry for years to come but that should teach us that it is in real life too important to be morally sound and take care of the world around us, making this planet a better and secure place for all of us.
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