RIFLE RANGE BOY

BBC on Trial (Documentary; 2024) Produced by: Global Hindu Federation Remember when Malaysians depended on Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) for our news fix? If one remembers well, the headlines on each vernacular channel emphasised different topics to keep each ethnicity happy and give the illusion that their needs were being considered. They would have picked this up from their colonial masters, who perfected the art of diplomacy and ruling with the doctrine of 'divide and rule'. Goebbels is not the person who invented the propaganda. It was the British and their propaganda machine, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). In fact, the Germans learnt it from BBC, which was incorporated into its current form in 1927. In the 1930s, the BBC management was singing praises of the Nazi's attempt to clear off its enemies. BBC perfected the art of choosing the perfect word to sugarcoat a potential disaster. They broadcast 24/7 in 25 languages and three bandwidths to tell th...

Ghatashraddha (Kannada, The Death Ritual; 1977) Director, Screenplay: Girish Kasaravalli There must be a reason why Martin Scorsese's World Cinema Project, George Lucas' Family Foundation, and Film Heritage Foundation decided to restore the film from the original negatives in 2024. In 2002, it was voted one of the 20 best films in Indian cinema. It also snatched the Best Feature Film award, among other awards, in 1977. Looking at current world sentiments about India, the elephant in the room is that the film is about Brahmin bashing. The colonial masters are to be blamed for anti-Brahminic feelings running high among the Indian public at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th. The British wanted to understand how the Indian society was spread out. For simplicity, they used the European class system when they commenced their census taking. The varna system in India was too complicated for the Europeans to comprehend. Hence, a hierarchical system was devised wi...

Razzakar (Volunteer; Marathi, 2015) Director: Raj Durge This part of Indian history is unfamiliar to most, especially those outside India. India had between 550 and 700 princely states, each under its monarchs, chieftains, or feudal lords. At the time of India's independence, at least two states wanted to stand alone and not join India or Pakistan. There was Kashmir, which had a Hindu Maharajah Hari Singh ruling over a Muslim majority. The other was Hyderabad, ruled by a Muslim Nizam over a predominantly Hindu population. Kashmir, as we know, went into chaos when Pakistani soldiers disguised as tribesmen created mayhem. Hari Singh went into exile, and the State eventually broke up. Its problems persist to date. Down in Hyderabad, the wealthy Nizam was not ready to part from his wealth and power. It was believed that his subjects mostly wanted to be with India. During Indian independence, the Nizam had to quell a Marxist people's rebellion. The Nizam's army, aided by Qasim ...

Swatantrya Veer Savarkar (Hindi, 2024) Director: Randeep Hooda It is funny how names like Savarkar, Bhagat Singh and Subash Chandra Bose escaped our consciousness when we were taught Indian history in school. We were only told of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian Congress Party and their brand of civil disobedience. Gandhi's passive demeanour, recurrent fasting, and imprisonment eventually won India's Independence. Oh, right! Savarkar and the gang were branded as terrorists and troublemakers, destroying the order, culture and modernity the highly evolved superior race brought to the lost natives.  Now, we are told of alternative narratives of events that may have happened during the 200 years of the Raj's rule in India. The victors control the narratives, but entertaining the other side of the story is worthwhile. Let us not forget that the immediate reason for the British's sudden exodus from Bharat was not just the bludgeoning British debt to India incurred during WW2 but th...

Koh-I-Noor The History of the World's Most Infamous Diamond Author: William Dalrymple It is said in Vishnu Purana, an ancient Indian text, of a cursed gemstone, Syamanataka. The King of Dwaraka, Satrajit,  a worshipper of Sun God Surya, was given an audience as he was strolling on the beach one day. The gem that Surya was wearing was so radiant that King Satrajit could see his God. Surya removed his shiny pendant so that his devotee could visualise Him. Surya later gifted the gem, Syamantaka, to the King as a token of affection. The gem turned out to be an albatross around its wearer's neck. Legend had it that it was good only to one with a pure heart. Satrajit's brother, who was gifted with it, was mauled by a lion. The lion was killed by Jambavan, the Bear King. Jambavan gave the Syamantaka to his son as a play toy.  Krishna, Satrajit's son-in-law, was accused of killing off Satrajit's brother to own Syamantaka. So Krishna had to lead a hunting party to track d...

Gunga Din (1939) Director: George Steven This Hollywood movie is based on a poem written by Rudyard Kipling. Kipling, as we know, is quite proud of his European heritage. He and the colonial masters of his era vehemently believed that it was the burden of the white race to civilise the natives. They, the native with their odd-looking physiques, their equally funny-looking attires (or lack of), peculiar living habits and bizarre mode of worship by European standards and Judeo-Christian point of reference, are their subject of mockery. It is a light comedy detailing three disciplinarily-challenged army sergeants sent off to the late 19th century Northwest Frontier of Northern Punjab to check out some disturbances. They find a band of Kaali-worshipping ruthless 'terrorists' @ thugees taking over their post. The story is about how they defeat the thugs with the help of a naive local man named Gunga Din. Before jumping onto the bandwagon of the woke to blame all our current pathetic...