Hi Nidhi, Very well penned!!!
On 2/6/17, Aruni Sharma <[email protected]> wrote: > That's an excellent piece of review. Congratulations and all the ery best. > Have shared it on my facebook and twitter. The film is a commercial one and > we should not expect reality bytes from it. However, it is a very nice and > thrilling story quite well presented. It will surely go a long way for the > cause of awareness. > > Thanks and regards, > Dr. Aruni Sharma. > Associate Professor, Dept. of Political Science, JNPG College, Lucknow, > India. > twitter: www.twitter.com/arunisharma > facebook: www.facebook.com/arunisharma > Skype: [email protected] > > > > On 6 February 2017 at 02:52, nidhi goyal <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi friends >> >> sharing my reaction to Kabil- published in scroll >> >> https://thereel.scroll.in/828490/bollywood-heroes- >> always-win-so-why-should-k >> aabil-be-any-different >> >> >> >> Bollywood heroes always win, so why should 'Kaabil' be any different? >> >> The Hrithik Roshan starrer goes a long way in normalising disability in >> the >> movies. >> >> by Nidhi Goyal >> >> Published 13 hours ago. >> >> Image credit: FilmKraft >> >> A man and a woman fall in love, get married, and are living happily ever >> after. until the villain intervenes and harasses the woman. She dies and >> the >> man avenges her death. This could be the story of any Bollywood film. But >> millions of blind persons in India finally sat up on January 25, 2017, >> and >> said hmm, here are characters and a story that we relate to - and, you >> know >> what, it is absolutely "normal". >> >> I am talking about Sanjay Gupta's Kaabil, where both leads are blind. >> This >> film is not special to me as a blind woman and a disability rights >> activist >> only because of the stunning Hrithik Roshan and his sweet character Rohan >> Bhatnagar, but because the film is not about disability. We have seen >> films >> like Taare Zameen Par and Margarita With a Strawthat have been >> issue-based >> or educational. Just as Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham have affluent >> protagonists >> who provide the context to the plot, similarly Kaabil has blind >> protagonists. "Normalising" disability in cinema - that is what Kaabil >> does. >> >> Critics are sure that the movie is gender insensitive - which is only the >> problem of Kaabil but almost all of Bollywood. They further say that that >> Roshan has been portrayed as a superhero fighting off all the villains >> who >> harmed his wife Supriya (Yami Gautam), but does that really have anything >> to >> do with the disability? If Bollywood is known for heroes who always win >> at >> the end, why should it be different if the hero is blind? >> >> Rather than using disability to gain sympathy and pity, the movie >> reflects >> the research invested in its making and the casually inserted nuanced >> moments. You would know this as soon as the film opens with a scene of >> the >> lead actor cooking. It was fantastic to watch a blind man dealing with >> rupee >> notes and correcting the autorickshaw driver when he tries to cheat him. >> It >> was also fun to see that the blind man knew how to ride a bicycle. >> >> And it is definitely a no-brainer when he gifts a watch to his future >> wife. >> These sequences actually question what most people shockingly don't know >> about visually impaired persons. To add to this, the beautiful energy of >> the >> blind couple dancing is a recreational activity not commonly associated >> with >> disability - the fact that two blind individuals are confident, >> independent, >> and considering romance and marriage was probably an eye opener for most. >> >> Play >> >> The Mon Amour song from Kaabil. >> >> When the trailer was out, alarm bells began ringing for me, particularly >> when I heard the dialogue "Negative aur negative positive toh nahi ho >> sakte" >> and "Andhera andhere ko ujala toh nahi de sakta". These are typical >> statements made by lay persons who know nothing about living with >> disability. These are unsaid assumptions around love and relationships >> that >> society makes and that seep into the subconscious minds of people with >> disabilities. >> >> Thus in real or reel life, the discussion around potential dating >> partners >> for someone disabled is reduced to the disability and not how wonderful >> or >> not the person is. Showing people with disabilities to be incomplete and >> hopelessly dependent, particularly in relationships, has been the forte >> of >> Indian cinema. >> >> The trailer suggested that Kaabil was no different. But Rohan helps >> Supriya >> deal with this incorrect assumption and experience a different reality of >> equal love. >> >> The film is not all hunky dory, and is punctuated with ignorance and >> stigma. >> Rohan's close friend says that he has heard that love is blind, but he >> doesn't know that the blind also love. These lines, though said in jest, >> highlight important issues faced by disabled people. The popular idea is >> that disability reduces us to something less than complete, and that >> love, >> romance and sex will never be on our minds with the struggles and >> survival >> issues that we face. >> >> Kaabil also subtly echoes questions that perhaps many people imagine and >> want to raise. This is particularly in the area of sex and sexuality. The >> film very beautifully dispels such misconceptions when it answers the >> ignorant questions posed by the villains who wonder about Rohan and >> Supriya's wedding night, "How would these blind people be doing it?" This >> statement is juxtaposed with a lovemaking scene. >> >> Play >> >> Kaabil. >> >> Yes, Supriya is at greater risk because of her blindness, but the issues >> portrayed in the film were very real for disabled women who are raped by >> someone who has money, power, and other privileges. The corruption of the >> police, the difficulties in giving evidence, and the helplessness of a >> middle-class couple were heart-wrenching and true. >> >> We could complain that Kaabil didn't attempt to have blind/visually >> impaired >> actors or show the amazing assistive technology that blind persons use. >> But >> after sitting through blockbusters that have heroes pull out their >> intravenous support lines in hospital and jump straight into action, it >> would be unfair to expect Kaabil to be perfect! The only real complaint >> is >> that a film about blind persons is not accessible to them. It would have >> been great for Kaabil to have thought of audio descriptions and >> accessible >> cinema. >> >> I grew up watching Bollywood films that told me there were no equal >> relationships for someone like me or that no interesting man - disabled >> or >> not - would chose to be with a disabled woman out of attraction and love. >> But a film like Kaabil makes me happy for the young disabled teenagers >> who >> see themselves being accepted and celebrated in mainstream cinema. Never >> mind the fact that Rohan Bhatnagar kindled the teenaged celebrity crush >> on >> the actor for me. >> >> Nidhi Goyal is an activist working on disability rights and gender >> justice. >> Being disabled herself, she works at the intersection of disability and >> gender through research, training, advocacy, and art. Follow her >> @saysnidhigoyal. >> >> >> >> Regards, >> >> Nidhi Goyal >> >> activist: disability rights and gender justice >> >> I tweet: @saysnidhigoyal >> >> >> >> >> Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility >> of >> mobile phones / Tabs on: >> http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile. >> accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Search for old postings at: >> http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ >> >> To unsubscribe send a message to >> [email protected] >> with the subject unsubscribe. >> >> To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, >> please visit the list home page at >> http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in >> >> >> Disclaimer: >> 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of >> the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its >> veracity; >> >> 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the >> mails >> sent through this mailing list.. >> > > Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of > mobile phones / Tabs on: > http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Search for old postings at: > http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ > > To unsubscribe send a message to > [email protected] > with the subject unsubscribe. > > To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please > visit the list home page at > http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in > > > Disclaimer: > 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the > person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; > > 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails > sent through this mailing list.. > -- Ajay Minocha Mob : +91-9584076767 E mail : [email protected] [email protected] Skype: ajayminocha2 Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. AI cannot be held liable for any commission/omission based on the mails sent through this mailing list..
