In the recent Yash-Raj Films’ movie Gunday, the opening narration by the much respected Irrfan Khan and written by Ali Abbas Zafar (who is also the director) said that the birth of Bangladesh was a result of an “India-Pakistan War” - a surprisingly inaccurate telling of history that has resulted in a storm of protests from Bangladeshis from around the world via Facebook, Twitter and other media.
The brouhaha has prompted YRF to offer a statement on their blog - an effort to appease their “Bangladeshi brethren.” While the statement reads like an apology – “we would like to apologise if any disrespect or hurt has been caused” - the rest of it clearly shows that YRF just doesn’t get it.
The basic nature of the YRF response can be summarised in this way: the whole story of the film is a work of fiction, so we don’t see what the problem is - why this kolaveri? As with most YRF productions, of course the storyline about two idiot goons in love with the same cabaret dancer, with trains and bombs and guns is fictional.
Why, you still ask? Well, in a fit of rage, one goon shoots the other, only misses, and the bullet hits the said cabaret dancer; oh the tragedy, but wait - she survives! Don't get me wrong - I’m as big of a sucker for YRF’s melodramatics as the next person.
But when a narration includes real events in history, concerning real nations, amidst real wars and during real time period, then it is no longer a work of pure fiction. And therefore, it becomes incumbent upon the writer to be absolutely accurate; except in cases of controversy - and this isn’t one of them.
If I had the same loose understanding of the word fiction, then I may also claim that the following plot for an animated film is merely fictional.
A long time ago, there was an English Governor General in a fabled land, India. His name was Mountbatten, but his friends called him Lou. One day, in 1947, he got tired of trying to impress the regal English ways upon the Indians, and left. You have to sympathise with him, because the Indians had begun to vandalise the English language to such an extent that the plural of the word Entry has become Entriyaan. Anyway, a few years later, in the jungles of India, a couple of monkeys named Hunku and Bunku fell in love with a fowl, Tootimer ...
To YRF: was there even a need to anchor the fantastically fictional story to any realistic historical event? Did it help the arc of the characters? If so, why not invest a few minutes on Wikipedia to understand that history, rather than going public with a falsehood, a notion, a vaguely remembered history chapter? What was the reason behind pulling the Bangladeshi war of independence into the whole love triangle smash-up? Doesn't the story stand on its own fictional ground without this history dragged into it? Two refugee boys in Kolkata - there, done!
Perhaps it would have been better if YRF had not issued the so-called apology. It reveals a level of disingenuousness and emotional detachment on their part.
To my Indian brethren, if my totally fictional story of Hunku-Bunku-Tootimer has caused any disrespect or hurt, then I would like to apologise. Please send grievances to [email protected] (they started it).
