There has been an interesting discussion about the film ' Jo Bole So Nihaal ' on SikhNet
First of all I would like to make it clear that I have not seen the film and I wouldn't class myself as a proper Sikh i.e. I have not taken amrit, I trim my beard, I eat meat. ( As I read this it looks bad) but I am constantly learning about Sikhi.
Here is my humble opinion
In my opinion the title of the film should not be ' Jo Bole So Nihaal '. This is because the film looks like a typical masala film with all that goes into a masala film ( sex, item numbers, girls in skimpy clothes). This can clearly be seen in the promos. This type of film cannot be reconciled with ' Jo Bole So Nihaal ' as a title which is a Sikh War Cry and has been misenterpreted too many times in Bollywood films already.
The director of the film, Rahul Rawail, who is born into a Sikh family, says that the films' title is apt because the heros name is Nihaal Singh.
With a title like ' Jo Bole So Nihaal ' I was expecting a religious film with a message like some films I remember wacthing as a kid ( Dukh Banjan Tera Naam, Nanak Naam Jahaz Hai, Guru Maneo Granth) Although these films were by no means perfect, they did have good intentions and showed Sikhism in a beautiful light.
Other people have said that the film continues the worrying trend of portraying Sikhs in a bad light. For example they are shown to be stupid, simpletons etc. I have to say that the promos do suggest that point of view. However this cannot be verified until I see the film.
I can understand how people get frustrated when they see yet another film where a person who looks like a Sikh is shown in a negative way. I feel that they do have a point but they have to look at the real world where we so called Sikhs are doing numerous things that are against Sikhism. We have to be realistic and understand that the media will depict people as it see them in real life. All groups will have good and bad people in them.
However we must not allow the media to mould the image of Sikhs so that it is contrary to real life.
A more important issue to me is the way the media portrays the Sikh religion as a whole. I will try to explain what I mean by this. If a ' Proper Sikh ' is shown to be doing something that is against Sikhism, then this can be more dangerous than when a ' Trim Singh ' or ' Mona Singh ' do something that is against the religion. For example in some films ' Proper Sikhs ' are shown to be idol worshiping. The act of idol worship is totally against the principles of Sikhism
If you have seen the film ' Jo Bole So Nihaal ' please post a comment on what you think about the film generally and how you felt about the film from a Sikh point of view.
If I have offended anyone please accept my apologies.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Easy Sug
I havent seen the movie either, but on the homepage of the movie it shows a lady in a skirt and beneath her naked legs are the holy words of our guru ji, now that aint right and it makes my blood boil! But what else can we expect from the Indian media who have been tampering with our religion and image for decades, if we arent fat drunk comedians we are hindus with turbans! A joke, the other thing is where did the JO come into Bole so nihaal? Will they next change it to JAI bolo so nihaal? This warcry which is used by the sant sipahee to defend the honour of the weak and poor, to motivate those people which society (the so called high classes) looks down on, that war cry which uprooted the Mughals, Afghans, Hindu Kings, Rajputs, British has been mocked by people who have never even read anything about sikhi let alone bow their head infront of the guru! Something has to be done......
FATEH!
Hi--thanks for your comment on my spot. I had heard about this film causing problems and was quite interested to read your bit. I appreciated your point of view.
Regarding Muqaddar ka Sikander, I am partial to "O Saathi Re," but that is because I am outsized sap. My favorite duet is still "Mujhe Kuchh Kahane Hai" from Bobby.
Post a Comment