The latest movie to join the list of banned movies in Bannistan, I mean Pakistan after Filmistan and Haider, is none other than the Akshay Kumar starrer ‘Baby.’
So obviously, right away you know that this movie will be one worth watching. All CDs and DVDs have been banned as well, so one can rest assured that this movie will be pirated and be seen in Pakistan, now perhaps even more than other movies playing in the theater.
Rather than take criticism positively, for some reason we Pakistanis have always preferred to either stick our heads in the sand or have resorted to haughtily looking the other way.
“If I don’t see it myself, it didn’t happen” is generally the accepted norm of how we think. The other reaction is to ban everything.
Going back to ‘Baby’; there is no anti-Pakistan element, anti ISI or even anti-Army sentiment as is being spread around (by people who have in fact not even seen the movie). The main reason being stated by the Pakistani Censor Board however is that the movie is anti-Muslim. Just because the terrorists in the movie who belong to the Indian Mujahideen and Lashkar-e Tayyaba have Muslim names, it makes it an anti-Muslim movie?
Do the terrorists in real life who belong to LeT and IM have names like John Malkovich? Or David Haselhof? Yes, we do have a brand of terrorists who like to give themselves sickly lovey dovey names like Sajna (real name-Khan Syed Mehsud), Pyara Jaan and what not, but these are not non-Muslim names. Does Mullah Abdul Aziz sound Jain?
Would the Pakistani Censor Board have preferred it if they had named the LeT terrorists Charles Holiday? Wouldn’t that have made Christians look bad then?
What about the movie PK? It did poke fun at Hinduism, why wasn’t that movie banned? Or should everyone just be named with Jewish names? Yes, LeT terrorists called Shlomo Argov. I am sure that would have been okay! As long as it is not a Muslim name.
Another reason given for the ban is “because it portrays a negative image of Muslims.” I beg to differ, it is not the movie that portrays a negative image of Muslims but rather Muslims themselves who make themselves look bad.
The movie is about terrorism related to Pakistan and India, should they have named the terrorists after the now defunct IRA instead?
Both TV actor and model Mikaal Zulfiqar and Rashid Naz have played important roles in Baby. Ironically, Rashid Naz portrayed a similar character the Pakistani movie Khuda Ke Liye. Strangely that movie was not termed anti-Muslim but given a loud applause instead.
I wonder now if Pakistani actors Mikaal Zulfiqar and Rashid Naz will be deemed anti-Pakistan too for taking part in such a movie. Baby I mean, not Khuda Ke Liye.
By the way, the movie also mentions Saudi Arabia in an indirect though not-so-subtle manner. It shows Arab men making Kaboom plans with our desi terrorists as well. I am still waiting for the uproar to come from them, that the movie made them or their religion look bad. Far from uproar, the movie is actually playing in their theatres. Everywhere.
Pakistan has long suffered probably more than any other country due to terrorism. We just lost innocent children not so long go, so we need to go beyond what names one has and movies and actually acknowledge the true terror that lives amongst us.
There is a scene in the movie, which aptly points out that for a Muslim (especially a terrorist) his identity is his religion (or what he claims it to be) rather than his country. Pakistan could not be better explained than this, for most Pakistanis are Muslims first and the country that actually gives them an identity, is nowhere in the mix.
Baby is a very well made movie. A fictional story based on reality. It is up to the individual (or rather the Pakistani Censor Board) now if he chooses to ignore reality or not.