FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

ebruary, 1949 FILMINDI A l"om Valmiki Ramayan, Yuddhaiand, Chapter 101, in which Laxman llone was mortally wounded by 'avan, himself, after Indrajit's death id Hanuman had to fly all over *ain to bring the herbal remedy om the Himalayas. But this is a ame of conscientious scholars and 3t of film producers. HULLO, CENSORS ! It is useless to waste more space i a picture which is at once rotten id inaccurate. Prakash's "Ram aan" distorts our time-honoured mception of Ramayana and brings ito ridicule and contempt lofty chapters like Ram and Sita who have |;en worshipped as deities by milons through ages. The Production Code recently set ' the Government is emphatic on is point: "Ridiculing or indicting whole nation, its race or people, its tizenry, its creeds, history and culre, its national emblems such as igs or national songs, its nation alders, living or dead shall not be :rmitted". Another section of the Code is still ore emphatic: "Presentation of hisy, mythology, legends and classi I works shall, as far as possible, be sed on recognised documentary idence. If dramatic license is tak in their treatment, nothing which II lower the respect of the public the honoured historical charac rs concerned shall be permitted." And the Production Code gets ore and more emphatic: "Characs of Indian or other mythologies gods and goddesses, historical hees or of sacred personalities shall t be presented in a frivolous manr." As if this is not enough, the Code tes: "Obscene or undesirable hisrical facts or similar mythological isodes shall not be presented." Doesn't all the distortion of basic cts from Ramayana, as pointed ove. ridicule the creed and culture the Hindus? Haven't the producers of "Ram an" brushed aside an authoritative ripture like the Valmiki Ramayana, ich is the only recognized docuntary evidence, and distorted incints in such a manner as to lower respect of the public for the noured historical characters? Haven't the producers of "Ram an" presented the sacred personaies of gods and goddesses in a frivolous manner in making Ram and Sita do things which they had not done? Isn't it obscene and undesirable to portray a sublime character like Sita through the services of an eightmonth pregnant woman whose swollen abdomen can't be mistaken by a child of five? And during a period when Sita had not even become a mother ! Who will answer these questions if not our watchful censors? If Ramayana, the sacred book of the Hindus and Ram and Sita, the altars of Hinduism, are going to be dragged to dust in this manner what are our secular ministers doing about nursing the religious susceptibilities of a great and ancient race? Even a photograph of the Quran provokes the Muslims into a religious jehad but such criminal damnation of the Ramayana can pass unnoticed by a government which is primarily manned by Hindu ministers. Can the proverbial tolerance of the Hindus be abused more? We demand immediate action from the Government or let them scrap the Production Code once for all and bury deep the political hypocrisy of running a democratic state prescribing fairness to one and all. It is a pity that this unpardonable outrage on our religious susceptibilities has been committed by a Hindu producer and a Hindu writer. They must hang their heads in shame for slandering our religious traditions in so vile a manner to make a little money for themselves and in doing so grossly insult the glorious heritage of an ancient race. OUTRAGING OUR ALTAR ! The production values of the picture are very poor. The picture looks as if it was planned as a stunt production. It lacks the spiritual atmosphere completely. It is idiotically directed throughout. There is little to say about the players who play Ram, Sita and Ravan. Ravan's role is a slapstick caricature which creates cheap ridicule. Chandramohan makes a filthy hash of it. The too-obviously pregnant Shobhana plays Sita — the goddess who was not a mother then — and looks too repulsive and disgusting for words. Prem Adib who plays Ram defames our age-old altar and makes even Gandhiji look a criminal for uttering "Ram" with his dying breath. Umakant plays Laxman pretty well. But Laxman has little to do and that provides Umakant his strong point. No Hindu who loves his scriptures and his gods must see this picture. It destroys all our revered conceptions of gods and their great deeds. The picture has failed to be popular and those who have seen it condemn it in no uncertain terms. Prakash's "Ram Baan" is an unpardonable slander on Hindus and Hinduism. Mazhar Khan gives a sterling performance in "Dil-ki-Duniya", a social story of Noble Art Productions, featuring Munawar Sultana. 47