| Won't Get Along |
21 July 2003
|
Khan Suspends Work on Movie about Ram
Religious bigotry is messing with the arts again, this time in India. It seems Salman Khan, an Indian movie
star and Muslim, has withdrawn from a film in which he would play the Hindu god, Ram. Threatening
phone calls have been received by the actor and the producers, GS Entertainment, and he has quit work.
The problem is the idea is Mr. Khan's, and the producer's say he is well suited to play the part. So, a
$21.6 million film (expensive by Bollywood standards) won't get made, costing poor people their jobs, all
in the name of what? Defending the faith? A faith that needs such defense is a poor superstition at best.
Hindu-Muslim troubles are old hat in India, but this is an excellent illustration of how inter-communal
troubles hurt everyone. Here is an actor from one community (a rather controversial fellow to be sure --
he is facing trial for a hit-and-run death) deciding to make a film about one of another community's
fundamental legends. Unless he is accurate, sensitive and tasteful, he knows he's going to be crucified (or punished in some more ecumenical way) by the critics and likely at the box-office. And if he is, what a
step forward in common understanding it could be.
Instead, the intolerant bigots on both sides have won. The Hindi militants have prevented a bridge
between the two groups being built, and the narrow-minded among the Muslims can say, "See, how much
they hate us. We can't even make a movie upsetting them."
Perhaps, it is naive to think that any art form can help people get along. What possible effect could a
single film have on an inter-communal problem that has claimed, quite literally, millions of lives? On the
other hand, if something as unimportant as a movie creates this kind of problem, then there is little reason
at all to hope.