Time was 1994. One of our feature films called `Ilayum Mullum’ (Leaves and Thorns) was invited to the Toronto International Film Festival. The film was on social and psychological violence on women in Kerala’s context. It dealt with a subject what is today called `moral policing’. When we made the film at that time, activists were not used to this category. It took a couple of decades for the evolution of this category in political terms. Other Indian films which were invited included Adoor Gopalakrishnan’s `Vidheyan’, Budhadev Das Gupta’s `Charachar’, Anand Patwardhan’ `Narmada Diary’, Ali Kazmi’s `Narmada: A Valley Rises’, Shekhar Kapoor’s `Bandit Queen’ and a few others. The film `Bandit Queen’ stole the attraction and created the `buzz’ in the festival. Four films of Mani Ratnam were also there as the next attraction from the Indian side. Kamal Hassan and Mani Ratnam spoke at a press conference, where I was standing behind and listening to them. One white phirangi asked Mani Ratnam a question why there is so much masala in Indian films. The question was pointed at the songs and dances in Indian cinema. Mani Ratnam did not answer the question, but Kamal Hassan did. He said `Well, we are used to masala in our daily food intake’. The white phirangis were satisfied with the humour. Perhaps, there was something more than this explanation. Knowledge sharing among the subaltern cultures in Asia, Africa and Latin America went on for generations through songs and stories. For the colonial cultures, knowledge meant the capacity to substantiate with logic. Therefore for the same truth, they created multiple logic. Modern science was reduced to fiction in most of the cases in history. Some of their scientific stories survived the test of time and some of our stories also survived the test of time, though we are yet to recognise this. And in between, the local colonial Hindutva stories are also receiving a market. From 1994 to 2017 was a short walk. And today I can see the outburst of music videos comprising of songs and dances in the western cultures also. Some are visualised with imagination while most of them are not. At this stage I am wondering whether the subaltern cultures are following the colonial cultures or the colonial cultures are following the subaltern cultures. Therefore, if the political struggle is between songs and stories, why can’t we sustain our songs, dances and stories and generate more masala in our diet? So long as the diet is aesthetic and socially/politically meaningful and upholds the sense of justice and truth, why not enjoy the dish?
-- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
