FilmIndia (Feb-Dec 1949)

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SUBSCRIPTION RATES The annual subscription, for 12 issues of "filmindia", from any month is : INLAND FOREIGN : Rs. 241Shillings SOj Subscription is accepted only for a collective period of 12 months and not for a smaller period. Subscription money should be remitted only by Money Order or by Postal Order but not by cheques. V.P.P.s will not be sent. filmindia PROPRIETORS FILMINDIA PUBLICATIONS LTD. S5. SIR PHI ROZESHAH MEHTA ROAD, FORT, BOMBAY. Telephone: 26752 Editor : BABURAO PATEL Vol XV. DECEMBER 1949. No. 12. ADVERTISEMENT RATES : The advertisement rates are as follows : Per Insertion Full Page Inside Rs. 41)0 Half Page Inside Rs. 210 JPage Inside Rs. 120 1|3 Page Inside Rs. 150 2nd « 3rd Cover Rs. 500 4th Cover Rs. 600 1st Cover Rs. 1.000 Plus 6i% Tax The cost of the advertisement should be submitted in advance with the order. The advertisement will be subject to the terms and conditions of our usual contract. 4jindu.i5m -find Celluloid &emon5 / Of all the deities inherited by the human race irough ages, the Hindu gods and goddesses are perjps slandered the most by film producers in India, he Hindus of India have such tolerant and well-beaved gods and so many of them that even Muslim projcers can use and misi^e them in an endles rotation t making some easy money. While our film producers dare not even photograph te Holy Quran for motion pictures, leave alone the icidal misadventure of presenting a human being as Paighambar. for fear of the screen being torn into ireds and the shreds dyed in human blood, any Musor Hindu producer can with impunity get away with 8 own fanciful conceptions of the Hindu gods and )ddesses. 35 years of this mercenary vandalism by different oducers has completely changed the face of Hindu )ds and made them look like so many monkeys and onstens performing impossible miracles at the slightest d of the film directors and selling millions of tickets »r the gold digger-. Raja Ravi Varma's remarkable paintings of the imerous Hindu gods, giving beautiful mental images millions of Hindus and creating spiritual altars in eir minds have been mercilessly trampled upon by the irious hideous characterizations presented on the reen bv different producers from month to month iring the last 35 years of film-making in India. Never before has the epic history of any nation *n so mercilessly raped and distorted as has been the se with Hindu mvthology. Men who would make onkeys blush with their looks and stature have played indu gods whose valiant deeds and spiritual attainents have left behind a lofty altar of worship for milhis of Hindus. In the greedy hands of the producers ir gods have lost their spiritual stature and become st so manv box-office demons to lure the devout masses to cinemas to see their gods turned into circus clowns d Hinduism slandered in the most vile manner. With our Hindu sods stripped of their spiritual tributes, with the philosophy of the Hindu wav of life ssipated and with the sacred concepts of Divinity disrted bevond recognition, it is no wonder that our peo5 are fast heading towards Communism, the godless nacea for a thousand sufferings. Nothing hits a na■n more than to defile its people's spiritual altars and fame its time-hallowed gods. Persons, whose physical deformities and mental deficiencies make them repulsive members of human society, have often played the roles of gods like Ram, Krishna, Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh on the Indian screen. They have wrought impossible miracles on the screen, made hideous faces and uttered the immortal words of spiritual wisdom written by peerless sages like Ved Vyas and Valmiki. How can these cheap and revolting portrayals ever contribute to our ancient spiritual heritage? If it is the intention of our secular state to liquidate Hinduism by slowly destroying its spiritual heritage, better iconoclasts than our nresent film producers cannot be found anywhere. These people can be relied upon to shatter the Kingdom of God and replace it w ith Satan and hell. Some recent instances of such vandalism are "Ram Baan". "Ram Vivah". "Narsinh Avatar", "Jai Hanuman", "Ram Bhakt Hanuman" etc. In "Ram Baan", Ram, our warrior-god whom Sa?e Valmiki describes as the perfect human being — physically, mentally and spiritually —is played bv an actor with a silly face, short stature, thick and ugly nostrils and sagging muscles. While Sita — the noblest ideal of Indian womanhood, sublime in her physical beautv. spiritual stature and devotion to her husband — is plaved bv an old and emaciated actress, a mother of several children, with bulging anaemic eyes, sunken cheeks, protruding cheek bones, shapeless arms and sagging hips. Add to this monstrous film portrayal a bulging pregnant abdomen of eight months and you get perhaps the most repulsive picture of Sita whom we are asked to worship as a goddess. How do such filthy portrayals bv a film producer compare with the beautiful conceptions of Ram and Sita. with brush and paint, by Raja Ravi Varma? If Ram. the eternal soothe of millions in pain and the final whisper of dving lips, is permitted to be distorted in such a monstrous manner bv our film producers, the spiritual magic of the name that has healed the ailing and the dving through ages shall soon be lost to 320 million Hindus and the heritage of millenniums shall ultimately be reduced to dust. It is the sacred duty of our popular ministers to protect the religious institutions and culture of our people by stopping the^e vandals from desecrating our ancient idol* of worship and not hurting our religious susceptibilities.