A Bollygood rewrite: From Pak-bashing to an Indo-Pak bash

Pakistan bashing is making way for an Indo-Pak bash to make Bollywood’s forthcoming war movies suitable for the in-mood-of-peace public.

Take for instance, Raman Kumar’s Sarhad Paar which stars Sanjay Dutt, Tabu and Mahima Chaudhry in lead roles. The film which has Dutt playing a Sikh character for the first time is 90 per cent complete. But after witnessing the response of the cricket series, the makers have decided to make a last-minute inclusion—a Pakistani actor who will show his country in positive light. Talks also abound to get Pakistani singers to render playback for the film.

Says Kumar,‘‘Our film deals with a PoW who crosses the border. I can’t show my actor crossing Turkey so we had to show Pakistan. Since Pakistan is part of the story, we are trying to get a Pakistani actor and singers.’’

Considering the film is set for a June release, isn’t it too late to make these changes? ‘‘We were always trying but earlier we couldn’t see any possibility. Now that’s not the case,’’ adds Kumar.

Anil Gadar Sharma is also trying to play it safe this time round. Known for his shrill jingoism and Pak-bashing cinema, Sharma is toning down his ambitious war saga Ab Tumhare Hawaale Watan Saathiyon which stars Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Bobby Deol. Sources in Sharma’s crew said the maker is rewriting dialogues that came down too heavy on Pakistan.

Interestingly, the motivation to do so was provided by actor Akshay Kumar who refused to spout any anti-Pakistan dialogues. Says Kumar, ‘‘I made it very clear to the director that I will not badmouth any country or a religion. My director got the point and now the dialogues are okay.’’

Sharma, meanwhile, denies going soft on Pakistan because of any particular reason, ‘‘I have not altered the script at all. I never said that I am making a war film. My film is basically a love story set against the backdrop of an Indo-Pak war.’’

That’s exactly the line adopted by Farhan Akhtar’s team about Lakshya. Producer Ritesh Sidhwani was heard giving strict instructions to the PR company to specify that Lakshya is not a war film but a love story with the background of war. Javed Akhtar who has scripted the film defends the claim, ‘‘It’s a story of a young soldier. Lakshya cannot be accused of taking aggressive stance against any country.’’

And though he is not aware that other Indo-Pak films are being toned down, Akhtar is not surprised if it’s happening. ‘‘Subtlety and underplay are not virtues of Bollywood. Our directors are adept at taking any emotion and make a caricature of it.’’

Milan Luthria who is helming the Amitabh Bachchan-Sanjay Dutt-Akshaye Khanna PoW saga Deewar — Let’s Bring Our Heroes Home is also refusing to term it a war film. Rather he calls it as ‘India’s first escape film.’ ‘‘My film is the story of the 54 PoWs who were not sent back after the 1971 war. It has nothing to do with Indo-Pak rivalry. Any sensible film-maker would respond to the fact that people don’t want to see Indo-Pak hate films,’’ he says.

And just for the record, Bollywood’s latest stance has nothing to do with General Pervez Musharraf’s plea to Aishwarya Rai to not act in any film that depicts Pakistan in negative light!