The Cinemawala

Dear Mr. Hansal Mehta,

A really long time ago, I had a friend. I won’t name him. He was a gentle soul. Gentle and meek. The kind to be bullied. A lot of boys called him names, teased him and at times, launched atrocities that were termed school boy antics, like pushing him to the corner, flicking on his head, snatching his tiffin. And I was no saint either. But at times, I used to feel bad for him and tried to help him with his homework which he was terrible at. The gentle soul that he was, used to offer me his share of tiffin on those days. While I savoured the food, he enjoyed this little moment of kinship with me. By the way, I didn’t tell you why people used to bully him. He was a little effeminate. A little different than the whole lot of us. Of course, people bullied him. We always bully the different kind. Change is chaotic for us, isn’t it?

I saw Aligarh. And it sent a chill down my spine. It speaks about our failure as a nation. It speaks about a nation where a preference or choice in partner of the same gender is termed as a disease. The saffronised bandwagon labels it as against the nation’s culture. A country which has been invaded in past by many, has seen a cultural amalgamation of several other religions, is best defined as tolerant. Funnily, a tolerant nation cannot tolerate persons of the same gender, being together. I despise you Mr. Mehta. I despise you for telling this story. And most of all, I despise you for letting us believe that we could get away with murder. Anyway democracy is long dead in our country. All we have is the binding set of rules which we follow like the lamb herd. In order to protect the sanctity of the nation, we sacrifice our right to live. We call it human rights which ain’t right.

The honourable Supreme Court of India overturned the landmark judgement passed by the Delhi High Court, stating that the judiciary cannot amend IPC 377, rather it should be discussed by the law makers, in the Parliament. The judiciary system which pressed for parliamentary discussions for amending a draconian law set at the time of British Rule of India, is taking an unusual interest in the functioning of a private body called BCCI. Not Khap, not the unusually high rape cases, but BCCI. Enough said.

Directing this story is no mean feat. Your lead actors have portrayed every emotion and nuances of the people on which their roles were based. You are a fine story teller Mr. Mehta but you know what I feel? They are not gonna change. These people will always be there. Soon another Siras will die at their hands. They have already tasted blood. They won’t stop. And again we shall fail as a nation.

Thank you.