The ban on Kedarnath in Uttarakhand: Can we stop communalising cinema?

We’ve often had political leaders, cabinet ministers assume multiple roles in the exercise of their functions. Never did I wish to witness the day where, within the traditional discharge of their duties, they also performed the tedious task of reviewing films, a job most suited for the prolific film critics our country boasts of.

If the Central Board of Film Certification transgressing its boundaries towards censoring films wasn’t enough, we have new kids on the block. According to Uttarakhand Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj-  “The movie (Kedarnath)is not according to our culture and the film can instigate people”

On one hand as the High Courts of Gujarat and Uttarakhand vehemently denied policing the display of movies in a democracy stating If you don’t like the movie, don’t watch it in response to PIL’s claiming that the film promotes Love Jihad. But on the other hand, raging a sharp attack on democracy Maharaj said. “My personal objection is also over the name Kedarnath. People visit the shrine to attain moksha (liberation), so the film should not have been named after a place of such purity. He even recommended an alternative name- Qayamat aur Pyar” 

Adding further- When filmmakers approach us, they don’t tell us about the exact script and their hidden agenda. We will make strong laws so that in future there is no distortion of facts with regards to our religious places,” 

A work of art, which is essentially an extension of freedom of expression, a fundamental right enshrined in our constitution is inviting frivolous Public Interest Litigations in Courts. 

And if that were not enough, our supposedly "secular" values are compromised with a story "apparently" endorsing love jihad within one of the most revered places of pilgrimage in India.

As Communal Protests are the most relished flavour of the nation, precautionary steps are mandatory, because law and order is a commodity and highly fragile.

What is the problem? 

• Is the Padmavat precedent acting as a deterrent and consequently empowering fringe elements to threaten with acts of vandalism if their ridiculous ideologies are not complied with.

• How conveniently we fail to acknowledge Hindi cinema, a deeply embedded a part of our culture, rather position ourselves in favour of its "alleged" distortment of our culture.

• Are we repeatedly compromising with the inherent fundamentals of a democracy restricting people in the exercise of their choice of a particular mode of entertainment, constantly imposing a certain religious ideology.

As a lawyer (by qualification) and an ardent passionate follower of cinema as a form of art and culture, I feel both angry and helpless. At this point, all I can wish is, if only these intelligent heads, channelized their law-making powers trying to curb substantial issues of a "secular" nature like mob lynching instead of promoting regressive sentiments and communal polarisation over a film, which is nothing more than a work of fiction