HEisasparticularabout the
writtenwordas heis about aframein
hisfilm.Althoughtheyrankleand
hurt,hisfilmsalwaysignitedebate,
discussion and dialogue. For the
seasoned film-maker Anand Pat-
wardhan,therearenohalfmeasures.
Hecallsaspadeaspade. Oneof the
morerobustvoices againsttherising
tideofHindutva,hiseight-chapter,
four-hour-longdocumentaryReason
talksof thekillingof rationalistssuch
asNarendraDabholkarandGovind
Pansare,attacksonMuslimssuchas
MohammedAkhlaqandtheunder-
lyingBrahminicalagendathatis at
therootofcommunalviolencein
contemporaryIndia.Inhisusualun-
flusteredway,hecontinues hisfight
forthesoulofIndia.Excerptsfrom
aninterview:“Reason”is unsettlinganddisturbing.It neededjudicial
interventionto bescreenedat afilm
festivalin Kerala.Howdoesone
explainthis?
It is easyto understand. Theun-
democratic, majoritarian forces
whosepastandpresentjourneythe
filmdescribesarenotjustinpower
todaybutinabsolutecontrolofall
institutions.There arenochecksand
balancesleftin oursystem,onlyafew
chinksinthearmourthatcanbe
temporarilybreachedbeforethese
tooaresealed.Thefilmis ascathingexposeof
Hindutvaterror.Yet,NarendraModi
andAmitShahridiculenotionsof
Hindutvaterror.Theyevenfieldeda
terroraccusedto counterthe
narrative.Canyouthrowsomelight
ontheoriginof Hindutvaterror?
ThemodusoperandiadoptedbytheModi-Shahregime(allothersfall
inline)istoscreamandshoutas
soon asanyone utters thewords
“Hindutvaterror”.Againstallevid-
ence,peoplehavelongbeenfedon
theideathatHinduismbyitsvery
definitionistolerantandnon-viol-
ent.Themostglaringproblemwith
thisunderstanding is caste.Over
thousandsof years,orthodox(Brah-
minical)Hinduismrestedonaviol-
entlyenforcedcastesystemthatnot
onlysubjugatedtheweakestbutwas
misogynist.Overthecenturies,many
reformistsandrevolutionariesrose
againstthis oppression,from the
BuddhatoKabir,JyotiraoPhule,
Basava, PeriyarE.V. Ramasamy,
B.R. Ambedkar and Mohandas
KaramchandGandhi,to namejusta
few,butit certainlydoesnotmean
thatHinducultureitselfbecametol-
erantandnon-violent.VOICEOF
REASON
Interviewwiththedocumentary
film-makerAnandPatwardhan.
BYZIYAUSSALAMH.S.
MANJUNA
TH
CINEMA