Tag: Boycott Trends

Filmmaker views on Besharam Song

Boycott Calls Won’t Work, Nor Will Vulgarity In Films

By LokMarg

Chandrapal Singh, a filmmaker, says the issue is not about a particular song but a particular clique of filmmakers which intentionally promotes vulgarity in Indian cinema

The recent controversy over ‘Besharam Rang’ song from the movie Pathaan has several aspects. One is vulgarity in Bollywood songs, the second is the boycott call over religious sentiments, and finally the whataboutery by digging out old Bhojpuri songs of several actor-turned-BJP lawmakers. Allow me to examine these aspects from an unbiased standpoint.

On vulgarity, the question is not only about a particular song but about a particular gang, a Bollywood clique, which has been habitual, over the past few decades, ridiculing our culture, music, dance, etc. This specific ‘gang’ of filmmakers is notorious for filming songs with a crude twist or racy outfits merely to gain publicity via ‘hot’ scenes, with sole aim of making money at the cost of falling movie standards.

Most of these movies are being made keeping in mind the younger generation which, the filmmakers presume, does not have any taste or understanding of the social issues, and watches movies only for ‘hotness  quotient’. And when a controversial song or scene, released before the movie, makes publicity, good or bad, these filmmakers make merry. This is a cheap tactic to book profits at the box office.

Second, the fate of a film does not only depend on a particular song or a boycott call. If the film has a good storyline and script, it will in all likelihood perform well at the box office. Conversely, even a multi-crore production with mindless or indigestible script does not guarantee a hit.

Chandrapal (inset) feels some controversies are deliberately generated

Boycott calls on social media or public forums hardly impact a film. If the audience finds a particular film entertaining or rallies behind a movie star, they will go to theaters irrespective of the hues and cries made over someone’s sentiment. Incidentally, I found Shahrukh Khan’s response to the controversy very laudable and measured.

ALSO READ: ‘Cancel Culture Is The Coronavirus of Bollywood’

As far as concerns being raised about similar acts (of dancing with Bhagwa-clad heroines) with stars like Ravi Kishan, Manoj Tiwari, and Dinesh Lal Yadav (Nirahua), those are things of the past when social media was not so prominent. These leaders are now lawmakers and moved on. The songs, being dug out from the past, are equally ridiculous as the boycott calls from the other side.

Do not expect Shahrukh Khan or Amir Khan fans to ditch them over a boycott call. If the hero has a connection with the masses, he will draw them to theatres. Similarly, if a lawmaker has done well for his constituency, his following will not be affected by the kind of songs he acted in, during his past career.

As an audience or an electorate, people need to make it clear once and for all – that we are not just a herd that will blindly make our choices over a call or a controversy. Things will change when filmmakers catering to us are made to realize the quality of our choice.

As told to Rajat Rai

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SRK Pathaan

‘Positive Log Zinda Hain,’ Says SRK Amid Calls To Boycott ‘Pathaan’

By LokMarg

Days after Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra objected to the ‘Pathaan’ song Besharam Rang for its green and saffron costumes worn by Shah Rukh Khan and Deepika Padukone, King Khan, on Thursday, sent out a message of positivity at the inauguration of Kolkata International Film Festival 2022. (KIFF)

Without mentioning anything related to the Besharam Rang controversy, SRK in his speech said, “Cinema and in fact, the advent of articulation through social media platforms have now become the foremost expressions of human experience and emotion. The collective narrative of times is shaped by social media and contrary to the belief that the spread of social media will affect cinema negatively.”

He added, “I believe cinema has a more important role to play now. Social media is often driven by a certain narrowness of view that limits human nature…I read somewhere negativity increases social media consumption and thereby increases its commercial value as well…Such pursuits enclose collective narrative making it divisive and destructive.”

“Cinema exposes the vulnerability of human nature by telling stories in the simplest form as they are lived. It allows us to know each other better in a way it’s best placed to sustain a collective counter-narrative that speaks to the larger nature of humankind,” SRK continued.

After concluding his speech, Shah Rukh tweaked his Pathaan dialogue in order to urge people to focus on positivity.

“Kuch dino se hum yaha aa nahi paaye ..aapse mil nahi paaye. lekin ab duniya jo hai normal ho gayi hai. Hum sab khush hai, main sabse zyada khush hu aur ye baat batane mein mujhe bilkul bhi aapatti nahi hai ki duniya kuch bhi kar le, main aur aap log aur jitne bhi positive log hai, sab ke sab zinda hai (We haven’t been able to meet for a while, but the world is becoming normal now. We are all happy and I am the happiest. And I have no qualms in saying, that no matter what the world does, me and you, and all positive people in the world are ALIVE),” SRK said.

‘Besharam Rang’ was dropped online on December 12, and soon it became the talk of the town. While several liked the peppy track, there were also who found ‘Besharam Rang’ objectionable over the use of saffron and green costumes. A slew of activists in Indore even staged a protest against Pathaan and Besharam Rang song and set effigies of Deepika and Shah Rukh on fire. (ANI)

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Ranbir Kapoor

Ranbir Kapoor Reacts To Cancel Culture And Boycott Trends

By LokMarg

Bollywood actor Ranbir Kapoor, in a recent media interaction, reacted to Bollywood films and said that they are not performing well at the box office.

Ranbir said,” I will not speak about other films, I will give my own example. I had a film released a few weeks back called ‘Shamshera’, I didn’t feel any negativity, if the film doesn’t run at the box office, it’s probably because the audience didn’t like the film. Eventually, it is about the content, of course, who doesn’t want to go to the movies and experience a different emotion, cry, laugh, we all want to feel that.”
“So if the film doesn’t work, it’s because the content is not good” Ranbir added.

Post pandemic, many highly anticipated films like Aamir Khan’s ‘Laal Singh Chaddha’, Akshay Kumar’s ‘Prirthviraj’, ‘Raksha Bandhan’, and ‘Bachchan Paandey’ and Vijay Deverakonda, Ananya Panday starrer ‘Liger’ failed to impress the audience at the box office and the collections of the film were not as expected.

Previously, Aamir, on Karan Johar’s chat show ‘Koffee with Karan 7’ also stated, “If you want movies to work, then eventually you have to work on the story.”

Helmed by Ayan Mukerji, ‘Brahmastra Part-1: Shiva’ stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Amitabh Bachchan and Mouni Roy in the lead roles.

The film is all set to hit the theatres on September 9, 2022. (ANI)