Our nation has an almost weird sense of self. We go so far in protecting its image, that we almost lose out on what really matters – being better. A recent viral video where Rani Mukherjee talks about Indian cinema, is a stark reminder.
In a roundtable hosted by Baradwaj Rangan, Prithvi Konanur opened up about his opinions on Indian cinema. He was sharing how he casts characters for his films on streets, so that he knows and picks stories from the roots. The director added that he thinks Iranian cinema is far progressive in terms of that, as compared to Indian cinema.
To this, Rani Mukherjee responded by saying that she was offended by the thought. She mentioned that we needn’t learn from other people because we are the best in the world. The actor added that we do come up with stories from the roots, with films like 12th Fail, and that there’s diversity. The only thing is, that a lot of this reaction stems from the belief that we aren’t doing anything wrong – which we are. In reality it’s a steep slope towards loss of morality in Indian cinema.
There is also no denying that most commercial films come from and orchestrate ideas that are privileged. So to say that there’s no scope to learn because we are better than the rest is logically flawed. It’s why we are noticing a sudden deterioration in cinema, sure, but also the society. We lack the basic ability to own our flaws and that’s a failure in itself.
There is a lot to learn.