In a recent interview with The Quint, director-producer Rohit Shetty talked about the recently-released film, Sooryavanshi starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif. During the interview, when the journalist pointed out that the ‘good Muslim’ and ‘bad Muslim’ scenario in the film is problematic, Shetty countered her with a befitting reply. He asked her why the identity of the three villains in his previous films, who were Hindus, was not a problem.
The problem of ‘good Muslim’ and ‘bad Muslim’
Quint journalist Abira Dhar questioned Rohit Shetty that in his latest film Sooryavanshi, Muslims are shown in both good and bad light. She called the sequence ‘problematic’. However, Shetty was not pleased with the question. He questioned why the Hindu villains from the previous films were not objected to because of their caste. He said, “If I ask you one question… Jaikant Shikre (in Singham) was a Hindu Marathi. Then a second film came where a Hindu godman was there. Then in Simba, Durva Ranade was a Maharashtrian again. In these three, negative forces were Hindu, why isn’t that a problem?”
Nobody raised a question when they showed a Hindu villain. Infact, liberals and journalists were okay with the same. Then why a mooslim terrorist is problematic now? ?Sahi dhoya Rohit Shetty ?#Sooryavanashi pic.twitter.com/Z8iszngmiB
— Amit Kumar (@AMIT_GUJJU) November 14, 2021
When Dhar tried to counter him, he interrupted her and said, “If there is a terrorist who is from Pakistan, what caste will he be?” Shetty said that such controversies had changed his point of view about many journalists. He said, “It changed my point of view of a few journalists whom I used to like. That oh, they are portraying it like I have seen in brackets somebody writing bad Muslims being preached by upper-caste Hindus, which is very wrong. We never thought that way.”
It is notable that the plot of the movie Sooryavanshi, which has been released in theatres, is about Pakistani terrorists plotting more attacks in India after the 1993 Mumbai blasts, and the hero’s efforts to stop them. Therefore, it is natural that the villains in the movie, the Lashkar terrorists, are portrayed as Muslims. Filmmakers often take creative liberty to distort reality, but to portray Lashkar terrorists from Pakistan belonging to any other religion will be too much for any filmmaker.
‘If it is wrong, everybody would have objected’
Shetty further added that while making the film, a lot happened in the background. For him, it is important to keep the consciousness clear while making the film. He said, “When our conscious is clear, and we did not think that way, why are people talking about it?” He further added, “If there is a sleeper cell that we are talking about, what caste that sleeper cell would be? Why is the good or bad person being linked to his caste? If it was wrong, everybody would have objected. It is not the point of view of everyone but only a small segment. If they are objecting, it is them who need to change the perspective and not us.”
‘Police must be respected for their work’
When Dhar asked Shetty about his point of view on Police brutality, he said people do not appreciate the good work Police is doing out there. He said, “Most of our sequences, of course except the climax, have originated from the real-life stories. They [Police] do not publicize what they are doing on a daily basis as we do. There are a lot of incidents that do not make it to the eye of the Public.”
He further said, “Whoever asks me about my viewpoint on Police brutality, I only ask them to shut down Police headquarters for one day. You dial 100, and there is no one to answer.” He said even when the traffic lights stop functioning, it causes traffic jams almost immediately. The police do a lot of good work, and people need to acknowledge that.
