Looking within...

When a society gives in to wanton pressure from a fringe group, and denies itself the right to introspect on the more horrific incidents of its past, it stands the risk of repeating them again. The right to introspect, the right to know and to realize the horrors of the past, is perhaps one of the most fundamental rights and duties of a civilized society, and that which should perhaps be defended to the best of its capacity.

An integral part of this right is the right to evaluate events in the past in the media, both print and celluloid. The celluloid media is perhaps the most effective one of the two, because of the immediate nature of its impact on the minds of viewers. The print media still remains a tad limited by its insistence that you be literate enough to comprehend the language of the presentation, a problem that celluloid rarely faces, as it is more in the lingua populi.
Over time, Indian cinema has evolved from a purely entertainment outlet to a combination of education and entertainment. While the latter genre is still woefully inadequate, and unlike Hollywood, indie films are still a rarity here, the situation is improving for the better, at the least. Films are being made on social topics, on topics that serve more to awaken the people, to make them aware of issues facing the nation etc. This isn't a new phenomenon; only, the habit had been discarded in between.

We have had films like Amu (on the 1984 Sikh massacres) and Black Friday (on the 1993 Mumbai blasts), which have attempted to investigate all angles of the issue concerned, and present a very disinterested view of the whole matter, a thing which is helpful as it encourages people to make their own conclusions. There will be elements within society who would rather not have so unprejudiced a viewpoint in the open, for it exposes their duplicity, their crazed intentions. They will threaten to destroy all those avenues that a honest film-maker may want to take to showcase his work, to showcase the truth.
And will we stand silent while truth is being so murdered? Will we watch while our society is being denied her chance to improve herself for the better by some worthless delinquents? I pray not, and yet I fear that is what is so very expedient for most of us. Time and again, what could have been an eye-opener was itself snuffed out, leaving us blinded to our faults, rendering us incapable of avoiding repeating the same mistakes again and again.

Parzania is possibly one such eye-opener, something that Indian civil society sorely needs. In the end, in the quarrels of creed, of race, and of community, the identity of the dead is not determined by his creed, race or community; the victim is sans identity; he is merely a victim of a devilish frenzy. We need to acknowledge this once and for all, and stop this maniacal charade of communalism, of parading one's religion as superior by denigrating the others. Don't those who indulge in the denigration of others realize that by pushing others in the mud, they aren't lifted to the skies; they stay where they were.
Let the State Government of Gujarat offer security and credible security to all those who are fearful for the safety of their theaters, should they display Parzania. Let it show for once that it is capable of upholding the rule of law. Let it show its resolve to combat the demon of Time by its horns, and help society to improve itself for the better.