Phantom (2015)
Of late, if one were to notice, Bollywood seems to be churning out movies which are patriotic in nature. At a time when nationalism spirit in all countries is at a record high, and when India-Pakistan border tensions are equally high, this genre of movies appear to be topping the box office.
The conventional wisdom is to love one other, embrace your brother, love thy name and do unto others as you would do unto them. And that 'an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind'. Unfortunately, the world is not a kind place. Experiences in 1962, lethargic after fighting two world wars, Nehru, in his great wisdom, must have thought hard about his country's relationship with China. With his 'Chini Chini Bhai Bhai' slogan, he probably told China, "let's all be together and feel alright!" Unfortunately, China construed this holding hands and singing kumbayah gesture as a weakness. They cooly walked in and occupied Tibet.
India, with that humiliation, managed to salvage some pride a decade later (1971). Parties in West Pakistan had failed to win a majority to rule the whole of Pakistan. So, when the Bengalis of East Pakistan retaliated, the West Pakistani army moved in to quell the resistance and initiate a genocide. Refugees in millions started pouring into India. Pleas by India to the international community fell into deaf ears. India thought it would be cheaper to go to war with Pakistan. Pakistan, gung-ho with their nationalistic jingoism gave the first salvo by attacking Agra. In a blitz, the Indian Army forced the Pakistan Army to get on their knees to sign a public Instrument of Surrender. A Jew, Major General JFR Jacob, managed to hoodwink the Pakistani Army to lay down their arms.
Like to brotherly squabble between Ishmael and Isaac which has gone on for aeons to win their fatherly love, the clash of brothers of the same genetic makeup across the Indo-Pakistan border took a different dimension with the spread of Saudi-sponsored Wahabbism. Now, Islamic terrorists make it their life mission to conquer and spread their perverted form of violent Islam.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one such organisation. They have been identified as a terrorist group based in Pakistan with the primary mission to 'liberate' Kashmir' from India. They have been implicated in the 2001 Indian Parliament bombing, the 2005 Mumbai attacks and recently the Pulwama attack on Indian Armed Forces.
This film is based on a fiction which centres around the 26/11 Mumbai terror. In keeping with Bollywood's style, a lone-wolf (but with the blessings of RAW), disgraced and court-marshalled Indian soldier singlehandedly (with a little help from a pretty informant) infiltrates into an American prison, Syria and Pakistan to track down the planners of the attack and mete appropriate justice to them.
[N.B. A recent addition to the growing list of patriotic Indian films would be 'Kesari'. The movie is based on the greatest battle in the world history, the Battle of Saragarhi, in which 21 Sikh soldiers of the British India Army fought valiantly against a massive force of 10,000 Afghan tribal warriors.
Great Britain had halted their parliament during proceedings to give a standing ovation to those 21 fallen Sikh soldiers for their courage and bravery. In fact, none other than Queen Victoria herself had said at the time: “It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000.”
The only reason that the world today knows about the details of the Battle of Saragarhi is because of heliographic messages, which were communicated between the Sikh troops and Lt Col John Haughton at Fort Lockhart and Major Charles Des Voeux in Gulistan. The heliographed details of the heroism of those 21 Sikh souls had been telegraphed to London by a journalist, which led every newspaper in Britain to report it on the front page. In 2017, a group of 12 senior Army officials from England visited Saragarhi memorial to pay tributes to the brave souls. Saragarhi memorial day is observed in Britain as well.]
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
Of late, if one were to notice, Bollywood seems to be churning out movies which are patriotic in nature. At a time when nationalism spirit in all countries is at a record high, and when India-Pakistan border tensions are equally high, this genre of movies appear to be topping the box office. The conventional wisdom is to love one other, embrace your brother, love thy name and do unto others as you would do unto them. And that 'an eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind'. Unfortunately, the world is not a kind place. Experiences in 1962, lethargic after fighting two world wars, Nehru, in his great wisdom, must have thought hard about his country's relationship with China. With his 'Chini Chini Bhai Bhai' slogan, he probably told China, "let's all be together and feel alright!" Unfortunately, China construed this holding hands and singing kumbayah gesture as a weakness. They cooly walked in and occupied Tibet.
India, with that humiliation, managed to salvage some pride a decade later (1971). Parties in West Pakistan had failed to win a majority to rule the whole of Pakistan. So, when the Bengalis of East Pakistan retaliated, the West Pakistani army moved in to quell the resistance and initiate a genocide. Refugees in millions started pouring into India. Pleas by India to the international community fell into deaf ears. India thought it would be cheaper to go to war with Pakistan. Pakistan, gung-ho with their nationalistic jingoism gave the first salvo by attacking Agra. In a blitz, the Indian Army forced the Pakistan Army to get on their knees to sign a public Instrument of Surrender. A Jew, Major General JFR Jacob, managed to hoodwink the Pakistani Army to lay down their arms.
Like to brotherly squabble between Ishmael and Isaac which has gone on for aeons to win their fatherly love, the clash of brothers of the same genetic makeup across the Indo-Pakistan border took a different dimension with the spread of Saudi-sponsored Wahabbism. Now, Islamic terrorists make it their life mission to conquer and spread their perverted form of violent Islam.
Lashkar-e-Taiba is one such organisation. They have been identified as a terrorist group based in Pakistan with the primary mission to 'liberate' Kashmir' from India. They have been implicated in the 2001 Indian Parliament bombing, the 2005 Mumbai attacks and recently the Pulwama attack on Indian Armed Forces.
This film is based on a fiction which centres around the 26/11 Mumbai terror. In keeping with Bollywood's style, a lone-wolf (but with the blessings of RAW), disgraced and court-marshalled Indian soldier singlehandedly (with a little help from a pretty informant) infiltrates into an American prison, Syria and Pakistan to track down the planners of the attack and mete appropriate justice to them.
[N.B. A recent addition to the growing list of patriotic Indian films would be 'Kesari'. The movie is based on the greatest battle in the world history, the Battle of Saragarhi, in which 21 Sikh soldiers of the British India Army fought valiantly against a massive force of 10,000 Afghan tribal warriors. Great Britain had halted their parliament during proceedings to give a standing ovation to those 21 fallen Sikh soldiers for their courage and bravery. In fact, none other than Queen Victoria herself had said at the time: “It is no exaggeration to record that the armies which possess the valiant Sikhs cannot face defeat in war. 21 vs 10,000.”
https://asok22.wixsite.com/real-lesson
No comments:
Post a Comment