Released in 2014, Haider tells the story of a young man,
Shahid Kapoor, a student of poetry at Aligarh Muslim University, and deeply
troubled by the events unfolding in his home state of Kashmir, and within his
family. After Maqbool and Omkara, This is director Vishal
Bharadwaj’s third movie adaptation of a Shakespearean drama—to make the story
more poignant, Haider is based on
Hamlet.
The film deals with
several important political issues about Kashmir. Most notable among them are
Kashmir’s special status in the Indian Constitution, as a state where the India
Parliament needs approval from the State Legislature to implement several laws,
the application of the Armed Forces Special Protections Act (AFSPA), that
allows the Indian Army to carry out frequent search and seizure operations on
civilians, the rise of separatism, and the influence of cross-border politics.
Controversy
generated by Haider
Earlier movies that
showed violence in Kashmir focused almost exclusively on India-Pakistan
conflict (e.g., LOC Kargil) or terrorism in Kashmir (e.g., Mission Kashmir). Haider marks one of the few movies in
Bollywood which raise questions on the actions of the Indian Army. Scenes
portraying torture chambers run by the Army, fake encounters, and the checking
of civilian IDs understandably generated considerable controversy in the rest
of India.
Bharadwaj remained
unfazed to the criticism, and retorted by saying that as a proud Indian, he
wouldn’t do anything anti-national, but will definitely comment on what he
perceives to be inhumane. [1]
Issues
discussed in our class presentation
Given Haider’s significant length (over 150
minutes), and the plethora of issues discussed, we faced several tradeoffs when
deciding what to present to the class. Ultimately, we decided on presenting
content that would stoke discussion on the future of Kashmir (and of
Kashmiris), either as part of India or not.
Our presentation followed
the structure below:
a.
The politics of Kashmir:
In the first section, we decided to give the class some non-film related
background on Kashmir itself. We believe that the audience would benefit from
general instructive material on what makes Kashmir a socially and politically controversial
issue for the nation. We presented a timeline, broken into two pieces:
i.
1947-1984: The partition, and external
warfare: We describe first Kashmir’s unusual presence in pre-independent India—that
of a state with a Muslim majority, ruled by a Hindu King. We then give a brief
overview of how Sardar Patel promised the King Army support against invading
Pakistani troops, in exchange of Kashmir signing on with India. We describe the
1947 and 1965 wars between India and Pakistan, and growing Chinese influence.
ii.
1984-present: Separatism and internal politics:
The mid-1980s marked the growth of the J&K Liberation Front, and the demand
for free Kashmir. The controversy continued to grow into the next decade when
in 1990, the Indian Army killed 100 demonstrators advocating for independence
(unclear whether the demonstration was non-violent). The 2000s mark continued
violence and protests for independence.
While
the version of history we present is certainly simplified, we believe that the
information would help the class better contextualize several references in the
film, especially ones made to AFSPA and Article 370.
b.
The portrayal of Kashmir in Haider: We used two
scenes from the movie to show the audience how the filmmaker portrays the day-to-day
plight of the Kashmiri people. The first is the scene where the Army demands
every citizen (including Haider’s father)
to line-up outside and prove their identity. The second is the public
performance by Haider where we asks
the people to think whether they exist, and if so where (a thinly-veiled
hat-tip to Hamlet’s “to be or not to be” soliloquy).
c.
Cinematic effects in Haider:
For my final paper in the class, I’m writing a comparative thesis on the
evolution of Bollywood’s depiction of Kashmir. Tying Haider into it, one changing constant I found in most films on
Kashmir is the Dal Lake of Srinagar. What changes from era to era is how the lake
is portrayed. We present a slide that shows the colorful Dal Lake in Kashmir ki Kali, a serene one in Mission Kashmir, a dark, misty one in Yahaan
d.
Frequent themes used by Bharadwaj:
Our group believed that Bharadwaj is an excellent new-age director, who takes
challenging themes, and makes successful commercial films while keeping them
free from “gloss”. We present a small section on his films—both with
Shakespearean themes, and also others (Ishqiya,
Dedh Ishqiya, and Kameeney). We
plan on discussing the story lines (some of them woman-centric), the dark lens
cinematography that Bharadwaj seems to prefer and the repeated use of some cast
members (especially Shahid Kapoor and Irrfan Khan).
Impact
of the movie on me
I think of myself as
quite an ardent nationalist, proud of the fact that India is a democracy (which
has only been under real threat under the Emergency), and that Pakistan has
never defeated India in war or in a World Cup cricket game. However, I didn’t
know much about Kashmir. Admittedly, I feel conflicted after watching Haider. I understand the daily troubles
that Kashmiri people face due to constant political bickering and extensive militarization
of their state. However, I also understand the tactical necessity of
maintaining an army at the border (enemy access to Kashmir’s mountains can
prove threatening for Northern states like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh). I also
feel for Kashmiri Pandits, who had to flee persecution in their home state.
The problems are several,
and I fear no solution can cater to the stakeholders involved. However, I do
hope ardently for a peaceful resolution. Recent global political events (most
notably the 2014 Scottish plebiscite to stay part of the UK) might serve as a
framework for a solution.
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