Last week I went undercover to watch the recently released Indian movie Hamare Baarah.
It had to be undercover – because not too long ago, at screenings of movies with anti-Muslim themes such as Kashmir Files and Kerala Story in India, the right wing crowd had resorted to sloganeering ‘Mulle kaate jayenge’ – (When Muslims will be slaughtered…)
In any case I went incognito, feeling sufficiently safe in my disguise of an upturned collar and low-slung baseball cap with a Keffiyeh for added effect. I expected some saffron shawls and slogans this time too but I was met with an empty theatre with 3-4 bored individuals.
The story is of a Muslim man having 11 children with a 12th kid on the way- the doctor advises termination of the pregnancy due to risk to mother – man declines because according to the movie ‘Islam does not allow abortion’ (?!) and the wife goes along with husbands’ decision because … because according to the movie Muslim women think husband is god?! – what Muslim says that?
Now this leads to a court case by the eldest daughter to force an abortion on her unwilling mother. Yes, really, that is the storyline – a court case to carry out an abortion against the mother’s consent.
The entire movie is a cringe fest of tropes and lies about Islam/Muslims. I believe the screen writer dredged up each and every Anti Muslim stereotype from the pathetic depths of Sanghi whatsapp groups and created a series of incoherent and disjointed scenes and that was that.
Think of a trope and this movie will have checked it – puncturewala check, wife beating check, anti school /education check, madarsa check, triple talaq check, rioting and arson check , check , check.
What could be worse than a movie made on tropes? A movie made on Tropes punctuated by outright lies, littered with poorly acted melodrama and dripping with pro government propaganda. No wonder it is close to 3 insufferable hours long.
Throughout the movie there is a not so subtle plugging of a ‘population control bill’ (akin to the Chinese one child policy ) while laying the blame of India’s overpopulation of its Muslim minority. Where else in history have we seen a Government propaganda blaming a minority for all its troubles? We all know the answer to that one.
What does a movie like Hamaare Barah aim to achieve ? It only entrenches a feeling of alienation, distrust and feelings of otherisation of Muslims in India.
How do I explain a movie like this to a western audience? I would like them to Imagine if KKK funded a blaxploitation movie filled with racist tropes, starring well known white supremacist actors wearing blackface. That is how this feels.
This movie is something that will sink without a trace at the box office but the effect on the psyche of the Indians – the minorities living in fear as well as the belligerent right wing- will be long lasting.
There is no shortage of Government mouthpieces in India – the media or godimedia (media in the lap of its master), the billionaire class – the Godi-Incorporated and now the Bollywood has its own – Godiwood.
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