FilmIndia (1946)

FILMINDIA August 1946. ■ I /"Nl f^m * * /I MOTION !| PICTU R E * \J FILM * For Professional Use (35 mm) Finest Films of Dependable Quality ' ft ft ft PANCHROMOSA Type 41 -A panchromatic film for Studio and Outdoor use. Possesses the following characteristics : Ideal density curve, extremely high general sensitiveness, very fine grain and correct over-all speed. ft ft ft S.T.O. SOUND RECORDING FILM — A dependable sound f ilm for all methods of sound recording. ft 'ft ft POSITIVE— A sparkling film of the finest grain It ensures brill ant results and longer life. ft ft ft Patel India Ltd. Sole Distributors for Gevacrt Professional Motion Picture Film in India. Phone. : t 25300 HORNBY ROAD, ■ BOMBAY. who dares to oppose them. And yet we are asked not to identify these people as goondas. Coming to this community of "goondas" which consists of Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and now Ambcdkarites, may we know why good Muslims should pull upon themselves the odium attached to the goondas just because a few characters in a picture happen to be dressed in loongis and pyjamas ? And since when have loongis and pyjamas become an exclusive Muslim dress? The Hindus and the other communities also wear them all over India. If the loongi and the pyjama are going to be the future identification marks for spotting the Muslims, then it is going to be a difficult job to pick them out in the Punjab, where every man, rich or poor, Hindu or Muslim, wears them every day. The characters in "Hamrahi" didn't have even distinctive Muslim names. And yet some of the local Calcutta Muslims identified them as Muslims with the help of the loongi and the pyjamas, and suddenly turned them into symbolic representatives of the Muslim community. Can anything be more impulsive? If the political stooges are spoiling for a fight haven't they got the whole wide field of politics for their gambols? Why should they strangle our tiny film industry by finding such flimsy excuses and turning them into serious communal quarrels? The film industry is not at all anxious to hurt the feelings of any community, be it Hindu, Muslim. Christian or Jew. And when some producer does so inadvertently, "filmindia" is always the first to protest and demand reparations. The film industry is a business of mass entertainment and one can't entertain by hurting the feelings of others. The film industry cannot afford to hurt anyone, because its very existence depends on the goodwill of all. For the film producer, it is good business to please all. And yet a local Muslim paper of Calcutta, reporting the "Hamrahi" disturbance, writes in its issue of May 26th as follows: "In our opinion, this film seems to have been part of a well-laid, deep and subtle plot to blacken the name of the Muslims and depict them as hooligans and ruffians. In fact the filjn goes further and shows the Muslims as a people who can be hired to do the dirty work for whoever is able to pay the price. No libel could be more vile and it is rather fortunate that resentment to the outrageous insult was confined to stopping the show and breaking a few chairs." This paper seems to be almost sorry that a few hundred heads were, not broken and quite a few buildings were not burnt down. That is the least, according to the paper, the Muslims would have done, had the other people not been a little more fortunate. When newspapers begin to exaggerate minor incidents in such a criminal manner, is it any wonder that our people start settling their quarrels with knives and sticks? This paper proceeds further: "The objectionable scenes could never have been mistaken, misunder 4