FROM THE slogans of ‘Bharat mata ki jai’ in the beginning of Rang de Basanti’s famous dialogue- ‘koi bhi desh perfect nahi hota use perfect banana padta hai,’ Indian patriotic films have taken a different turn. As self-realisation dawned both on audience as well as filmmakers, the trend of glorifying the nation vanished slowly. Violence, emotionally charged actions and crude dialogues gave way to sensitive, relevant stories and smart crisp screenplays.
Says film critic Indu Mirani, “Patriotic films are no longer about ‘chest beating’, or ‘do or die’ kind of attitude. In fact they talk about patriotism in a subtle way.”
The transformation of patriotic films has been quite incredible in both form and content starting with Swades in 2004, which breathed a new lease of life in the catalogue of patriotic films followed by Rang De Basanti, Chak De India, A Wednesday, Black and White and the recently released, Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se.
Santosh Desai, author of the weekly column- City City Bang Bang says, “Patriotism is now no longer an abstract or idealistic notion. It is not just about fighting at the border but much more than that. Now exposing corruption also means being patriotic towards the country.”
Noticeably, the patriotic trend in the Bollywood has always been affected by the mood of the nation. Achin Dasgupta, former honorary member of Kolkata Ritvik Cine Society says, “Earlier, independence struggle or the various wars that India fought made the theme for the patriotic films but now there are other issues.”
Post Independence, 1950s saw films like Anand Math (1952), Jaagriti (1954), Hum Hindustani (1960), Leader (1964) and Kranti (1981) and many more which focused on the freedom struggle and martyrs followed by movies like Sikander-E-Azam (1965) and Purab Aur Paschim (1970) etc. that talked about the greatness of India. There were some, which showcased the wars that India fought and won like Haqeeqat (1964), Prem Pujari (1970), Lalkar (1972) and Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973) etc.
In the 1990’s and the beginning of 2000’s, film directors moved beyond Independence and started looking at the humane aspects attached to patriotism. To name a few, films like 1942-A Love Story, Border, Gadar: Ek Prem Katha and Pinjar. After this, we finally moved on to more real issues with Mohan Bhargava of Swades questioning the clichéd ‘Mera Bharat Mahan’ and rest in the league follows.
Says Prasoon Joshi who wrote the dialogues of Rang de Basanti, “Patriotic films are here to stay but their definition has changed. Now we are not fighting with the external forces but the enemy within. The need of the hour is to awaken the younger generations and this is what today’s patriotic movies try to do.”
Truly, Indian patriotic films have come a long way. Filmmakers are now trying to woo audiences by propagating films which depict genuine love and respect for one's country be it through sports, love stories etc. The main motive is to make the audience think before they swear against the enemy or take to violence in the name of patriotism.
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