Frontline – August 02, 2019

CINEMA

ANAND PATWARDHAN’S
documentaries arelengthy,intense,
boldanduncomfortable.Forfour
decades, the award-winningfilm-
makerhastackledexplosiveissues
suchas the Emergencyin the 1970s,
communalissuesin the1990sand
the riseof the saffronbrigadein the
early2000s.Mostof Patwardhan’s
documentaries meetwiththesame
fate:theestablishmenthatesthem
andusesits mightto prevent their
release.
Patwardhan’slatestfilmReason
(Vivekin Hindi)is anothermaster-
piece.Aneight-partdocumentary,
Reasonis a searingaccount of the
riseof Hindumilitancyandits sinis-
ter manoeuvringstowards the goalof
achievingAkhandBharator Hindu
rashtra. Obviously, the currentBhar-
atiya Janata Party government
wouldnotjustfind it objectionable
butwoulddo everything in its capa-
cityto stallthefilm’srelease.
Reason’s first public Indian
screening at afilm festivalin Kerala
in Junewasblocked by the Informa-
tionandBroadcastingMinistryon
the groundsthatit couldtrigger law
andorderproblems. However, fol-
lowinga petitionfiled by the festival
organisers, the Kerala State
Chalachitra Academy, the Kerala
HighCourtoverruledtheMinistry
andallowed thefilm to be screened
butonlyat thisevent.
Fortunately, technology has

cometo Patwardhan’s rescue. In the

past,onceafilm wasmade,he would

spend years fighting the Central

Boardof FilmCertification,or cen-

sorboard,for clearance. In thedi-

gital space, Patwardhan has

uploaded Reason on YouTube,

whereit canbe watchedby anyone

withaccess to the Internet.Thefest-

ivalorganisers pointedthisout to the

court,sayingthatit wasalready in

the publicdomainandtherehadnot

beenanylawandorderproblem

sinceits releaseearlier thisyear.

Thefilm’smessageis blunt. The

Hindurightwinghasbecomea jug-

gernaut that cannot be stopped.

WhilePatwardhanhasmadefilms

withboldthemes before, he had

neverencountered thecurrentdan-

gerousclimateof intolerance.Four

activistsin thepastsix yearshave

beengunned down because they

wereoutspokenin theircritiqueof

Hindutvaandthe peoplesteeringthe

crusade. Patwardhan is a strongbe-

lieverin democracy and,therefore,in

thefreedomof speechandexpres-

sion.Thosewhofollowhis workwill

knowthatmindlessviolencewillnot

stophimfrommakingfilms.In fact,

he divesdeepin to the deathsof Nar-

endraDabholkar,GovindPansare,

M.M.KalburgiandGauri Lankesh.

Thefilm beginswiththeirassassina-

tions,andtheyare a common thread

throughoutthe documentary.

Patwardhanexploresthedeaths

of theserationalists; sinister and

shadowy organisationssuchas the

SanatanSanstha;the suicide of Ro-

hithVemula;the persecutionof dis-

senters, particularly students;

attackson Dalits;the violenceof gau

rakshaks; the killingof Mohammed

Akhlaq;andtheconspiracybehind

the 26/11attacks. Knownforfilming

volatilesituations,protestsmarches,

demonstrations, street plays and

publicgatherings,Patwardhanuses

his clevereditingskillsto patchto-

gethera narrativethat has a tre-

mendous impacton the viewer.

As in his otherfilms,he usesin-

terviewsextensivelyto understand

the riseof Hindu militancy andmas-

culinity.If hisJungandAman(War

Dissent in the time

of intolerance

ANANDPATWARDHAN.

K.

MURALI

KUMAR

AnandPatwardhan’sfilmshavealwaysdealtwithexplosiveissues.

Reason,a searingaccountoftheriseofHindumilitancy,

is notanexception.BYANUPAMAKATAKAM