“A tricky subject” Hasan Zaidi — filmmaker and cultural critic “What exactly can be termed a ‘propaganda film’ is a very tricky thing to define, mainly because propaganda comes in different guises. If a film propagates a particular message that is sponsored by someone other than the writer or director it can be termed a propaganda film. For example, even Bol can be termed a propaganda film. And, propaganda by itself does not make a film bad. But in common parlance the term is used pejoratively to denote something that sacrifices artistic merit to hammer home a message. The real controversy around Waar — and, for that matter, Khuda Ke Liye — is that these films are made apparently with public funding which is used covertly without the public’s consent. For some, they may not have a bad message, but those with opposing views would find these movies problematic. Interestingly, Khuda Ke Liye and Waar, both coming from the same source, have almost directly opposite messages. Purely as a film critic, I would say Waar is very well shot and well edited, has very good production values but that it has a cliched script and bad dialogue. On a political level, however, the message it sends out is dangerous because it reinforces stereotypes and is likely to confuse Pakistanis further. Our public is already confused about the roots of militancy and how to tackle terrorism, thanks in part to the media and a muddled political discourse. And, if films like Waar reinforce the view that the problems of Pakistan are only because of external factors and not because of how we have cynically nurtured a mindset, it makes it that much harder to combat them. You cannot fight that which you cannot identify properly. And, in that sense, Waar is poor propaganda.
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 03:21:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015