|
|
|
Cities, Cinema and Controversies
Saturday, March 20, 2010 6:18:31 PM (IST)
|
Enkayaar, Bollywood Trade Editorial
When a film is named after a city, more often than not, it generates controversies. The controversies arise as there are notions and passions involved, fallout of the memories of the city, as also the apprehension whether the image of the city would be affected in an adverse manner by the cinematic representation. The streak of nostalgia is the operative part in the whole scenario, and as nostalgia has emotions interlaced into it, passions are the logical outcome.
LAHORE is the latest film that has joined this elite club, as the authorities in Pakistan have banned it. The authorities are frightful about the fact that the cinematic oeuvre of the city projected through LAHORE, may harm the notion and memory of LAHORE as it vests in the mind of its residents
Hindi cinema has rather been miserly in making films with name of cities as the titles, and on the eve of LAHORE it indeed is a perfect time to revisit these films.
BOMBAY: It is the first film that immediately comes to mind, as it was the film made in the backdrop of 1993 riots in Mumbai and was mired in political controversy, and political establishment of a particular ideology's clearance was required before the film was cleared.
DELHI-6: Rakeysh Om Prakash Mehra's oeuvre was an attempt to unravel the existentialist dilemma of a city where in some parts citizens still had nostalgia for the era gone by, while the major part of the city had moved ahead. The existentialist dilemma of this kind continues to be an urban development nightmare in most of the cities with a past.
MISSION KASHMIR: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's MISSION KASHMIR was probably the first film that tried to understand the psyche of the residents of Kashmir caught in the cross fire of militancy and the manner in which the civic authorities were running the operations.
DOMBIVALI FAST: This was an award winning film that tired to again portray the existentialist dilemma of citizens who are distant cousins of mega cities like Mumbai and the daily trials and tribulations that they have to endure to be accepted in Mumbai.
KABUL EXPRESS: An Indian film maker making a film about a city outside of India was a trend that was common in earlier times, but Kabir Khan returned to the theme by trying to understand how the citizens of KABUL are coping with the day-to-day struggle called life haunted as it is by the specter of militancy.<br>
LOVE IN TOKYO: It was probably among the few initiatives made by Hindi film industry during the sixties where a location of a city was used as the part of content.
NEW YORK: Kabir Khan again used city as a backdrop in this film to understand how the migrants are coping up with growing in USA, facing the tribulations of being bracketed as terrorists or in close cahoots with them on account of the Asian origins.
Related Articles :
- Aanahad: Respect for sports is short-lived in India…
- Movie Review : LAHORE
Tags : LAHORE, BOMBAY, DEHLI 6, MISSION KASHMIR, DOMBIVALI FAST, KABUL EXPRESS, LOVE IN TOKYO, NEW YORK
|
More Features
|
|
|
|
|
Sections
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|