Cinema Beyond Borders: The Bollywood View

Monday, 03 October 2016
Shaikh Ayaz on how the current row would impact the film industry and Karan Johar’s Ae Dil Hai Mushkil
A few weeks ago, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), a local political party in Mumbai, was making headlines for enforcing an extralegal ban on Pakistani actors and technicians working on Indian soil. The trigger was the Uri terror attack on the Indo-Pak border, an issue that has quickly threatened to escalate into a sensitive, war-like situation between the two countries. Amid this, Onir, the critically acclaimed filmmaker of Bollywood Indies such as My Brother Nikhil and I Am was talking to Atif Aslam, the pop star and a close friend from across the border. They were discussing the possibility of working together in Onir’s next project. Before they hung up, one of them said part-optimistically and partly in utter frustration, “Wish our governments were like us – easygoing and friendly with no animosity but a heart full of love.” Onir and Atif are not alone in their wish of eternal peace and ‘‘happy-ever-after’’ between India and Pakistan, much like a Bollywood film ending. Onir has twice visited Pakistan and has never felt more at home. “We have so much in common. We are one culture, one people,” says Onir, a firm believer in the power of the peace process and diplomatic dialogue but also a pragmatist who knows that when “tensions escalate and rabble-rousing political parties protest, artistes become the soft target”.
THE FRACAS
This time, the target was heartthrob Fawad Khan, who shares screen space with Ranbir Kapoor, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Anushka Sharma in Karan Johar’s big Diwali release Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. Though ADHM is packed with some of Bollywood’s biggest superstars, it’s no surprise that Fawad Khan – the Pakistani import whose fan base has been on an upswing in India – was generating more buzz than all the ADHM cast put together. With the spotlight turning singularly on him, one expected him to be in India, basking in all the glory and peddling his latest film to his Indian fans, most of them being female. Ever since the channel Zindagi, owned by the Zee Group, started airing Pakistani soap operas in India, including those starring Fawad Khan, he has become an exotic star. It helped that ADHM comes in the wake of Kapoor & Sons, a film that hitched its wagon partly to Khan’s newfound stardom.
On September 27, as the political climate in both countries was heating up, the Indian media reported that Fawad Khan made a quiet exit from India. It was said that he flew back to Pakistan, a claim that was refuted shortly by another publication! Just a week before, on September 20, the website Bollywood Journalist ran an open letter addressed to Khan, urging him to “go back to Pakistan”. In less than a week, the open letter was sharply countered by another open letter by an Abbottabad-based doctor. “India didn’t make Fawad Khan a superstar,” the letter read. “It roped him in because he was one already, and marketed the product where the demand was brewing already.”
GROUND REALITIES
The furore has led to raging debates about the Pakistani presence on Indian screens. Are the Pakistanis using Bollywood as a goldmine? Or is it Bollywood that’s cashing in on the exotic appeal of its neighbouring talent? Pakistani TV actress Momal Sheikh, who was seen in the recent romantic comedy Happy Bhaag Jayegi with Abhay Deol, said in an interview that being in Bollywood is equivalent of working in Hollywood. “Pakistani actors feel the same pride for Bollywood that Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra feel for Hollywood,” she had been quoted as saying. Her sentiment finds echo in her Indian counterpart Imran Zahid, a theatre actor and close associate of Mahesh Bhatt who has been a vocal promoter of Aman Ki Asha, a popular peace initiative between India and Pakistan. “If it’s a win-win for Pakistani actors, so it is for Bollywood,” says Zahid, whose playHamari Adhuri Kahani featured music by the Pakistani Sufi band Raeth while Ghulam Ali Khan is scheduled to sing for his upcoming Indo-Pak theatrical production Milne Do. Zahid has also done stage plays in Pakistan. He recalls, “We were treated so well when we went to stage our plays in Karachi and Lahore. It is sad that Mumbai is rather inhospitable to Pakistani artists. I was in Lahore for Milne Do rehearsals when the Peshawar school attack happened. Immediately after the attack the radio channels there were playing Lataji’s (Mangeshkar) Lukka Chhupi from Rang De Basanti. Even in that moment of emotional havoc, the Pakistanis found a way to connect with Bollywood. “Politics divides and strained ties lead to sanctions. But Bollywood alone unites all. In 2011, when the evergreen Indian star Dev Anand died, Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif was among the first to mourn his death. “He loved me a lot. In his death, I have lost a friend”, said an emotional Sharif.

It’s fitting that culturists on both sides of the fence sometimes describe Bollywood diplomacy as soft power. However, unlike Bollywood, Pakistan’s film industry is in a limbo and has begun scaling up only now. Left with no choice, Pakistani talent has to look for work elsewhere. Bollywood is a natural choice. But what Pakistan does have is a thriving TV industry. No wonder the realistic Pakistani TV shows have taken urban India by storm. According to Quartz India, Lollywood released about 10 Urdu films in 2015, “the highest ever in more than three decades.” Compared to Bollywood that releases nearly 150 films a year and Hollywood that releases 500 films a year, Lollywood is a mere upstart. Ever since the bitter partition of the two nations in 1947, the Indo-Pak cultural exchange has continued, though not without periodic disruptions. From Ghulam Ali and Rahat Fateh Ali Khan to Atif Aslam and Javed Sheikh right down to Fawad Khan, Pakistani talent has enriched the Indian cultural scene. On the other hand, Indian stars like Nandita Das, Naseeruddin Shah and Om Puri have crossed the border to work in Pakistan, an experience the latter has called “unforgettable”. Given such a rich history, there shouldn’t be much to worry about. Awaiting her Indian debut now is the Pakistani actress Mahira Khan, who stars in Shah Rukh Khan’s Raees, while another Pakistani actor Ali Zafar is also working with SRK in an upcoming film called Dear Zindagi. Taken together, trade experts say nearly INR 200 crore is riding on the Big Three from Pakistan. Zahid says once the tensions are deescalated things will fall back to normal in both countries. New developments will bring in new change and nobody will remember things of the past. Reassuringly, all this won’t have much impact on either ADHM or Fawad Khan. “Nothing will harm Fawad’s prospects in Bollywood. Indians love him,” adds Zahid.
THE IMPACT ON AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL
In India, bans are not all that uncommon. As Onir puts it, “Artistes are always at the receiving end, be it through petty politics, the Censor or someone somewhere getting offended.” For Bollywood watchers, the demand for a ban on Ae Dil Hai Mushkilwas a familiar script. Talking to the news channel NDTV, a calm Karan Johar was unafraid to take on his detractors: “I believe there are larger forces that need to come together to sort this situation out and it cannot involve banning talent or art. We are a creative industry. Please leave us alone. We make movies, we spread love,” he implored. Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is Karan Johar’s first full-fledged filmi four years (PS: Bombay Talkies in 2013 featured one of his short films). His last directorial venture, Student of the Year, was one of the biggest hits of 2012 and launched the respective careers of Alia Bhatt, Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra, who went on to become teen icons in their own right. Like all Karan Johar films, ADHM is expected to be a star-studded musical blockbuster that will draw in big numbers. Vinod Mirani, senior Bollywood trade analyst, says the film is expected to rake in more than INR 250 crore –thrice the magic cut-off figure of INR 100 crore. Bear in mind that the film has its task well cut-out. As the expectations around it build up, it’s worth pointing out that ADHM comes at a time when Bollywood has witnessed top grossers such as Salman Khan’s Sultan, Akshay Kumar’s Rustom and Airlift and KJo’s very own production,Kapoor & Sons. According to the trade website Koimoi.com, Sultan’s lifetime box office earnings were nearly INR 300 crore while both Rustom and Airlift made INR 129 crore and INR 127 crore respectively. Ironically this has also been a year of upsets. Starry productions like Rajinikanth’s recent gangsta rap Kabali has led to widespread disappointment among fans and trade pundits alike. The film was not the mammoth mega-hit that one expected of a Rajini vehicle, so went the criticism. Worse, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Mohenjo Daro with Hrithik Roshan performed so disastrously that it led Disney India – the big daddy studio – to fold up its Bollywood business and concentrate instead on Hollywood. All eyes are now on the much-ballyhooed Ae Dil Hai Mushkil. “A lot is riding on the film,” admits Mirani. But he also has a word of caution. “Ranbir Kapoor hasn’t had a hit in a while. Some of Karan’s own productions haven’t done well. Having said that, Karan has a reputation of a hit-maker and star-maker and you cannot ever write him off. Not only Karan Johar but the reputation of the entire cast is at stake.” Mirani pegs the budget of ADHM at INR 25 crore. That sounds like pocket change for a Karan Johar film. He argues, “If made by someone else, the film would have easily cost INR 50 crore. But stars want to work in a Karan Johar film. It is a prestige issue.” Ae Dil Hai Mushkil opens on October 28 clashing with Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay at the box office. KJo and Devgn are old foes and this Diwali, expect fireworks of a different kind. But for now it looks like ADHM, with all the controversy and buzz around it, has an edge over its opponent.
And look – it also has Fawad Khan!
Shaikh Ayaz is a well-known journalist and editor from Mumbai. He also paints, his blog link is shaikhayaz.tumblr.com