Nearly a year after The Kerala Story, Vipul Amrutlal Shah, Sudipto Sen and Adah Sharma have joined hands once again on a film. Titled Bastar – The Naxal Story, the film is reportedly based on the real-life incidents of Naxals in Chhattisgarh. Following the launch of its teaser, a section of the internet dubbed it as “a propaganda” for its political undertones.
In fact, the teaser of the film shows Neerja Mathur, an IPS officer waging a war against the Naxals, played by Adah, disparaging JNU and how the left, the liberal, the vampanthi and the pseudo-intellectual should be shot. And that has ruffled many feathers. In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Adah defends the projection of such politically loaded dialogues that led to dissent from a certain section.
She tells us, “When you play a tough cop like Neeraja Mathur in Bastar, I want people to think that I portrayed her in the strongest, most fearless and powerful way. I want people to believe each word I’m saying in the film. When she says that 76 jawans were butchered and that she wants to gun them down, she’s saying it out of frustration because she saw the jawans being shot and chopped into pieces. I might not say it as Adah but Neerja would.”
However, she isn’t turning a deaf ear to those calling out the film for the approach taken by the makers. “Once people watch the film, they’ll understand what it’s about. But like I said even during The Kerala Story, it’s a democracy – people can choose to watch a film or not, they can comment after watching a film or not. And we should also be respecting those who are making comments without watching the film because that’s their choice,” states Adah.
The lines between patriotism and propaganda often get blurred. And for the 31-year-old, Bastar is strictly a film showcasing one’s love for their nation. Prod her further and she asserts, “It’s about our 76 jawans being butchered. And I think that’s just wrong. I’m a citizen first and I believe that if someone harms our armed forces, that’s wrong. We’ve seen a lot of movies where they’re being attacked by external forces. But here, people from within our country are harming our jawans when they weren’t even at war. Did that really happen? Yes, it did. We can all check that information as it’s available to everyone for free.”
Speaking about the theme of patriotism in Bastar aligns with her personal sensibilities, Adah adds, “The reason why we’re able to sit and talk peacefully is because of our jawans. We should all be thankful to them. They (Naxals) butchered the people of their own country and I don’t stand for them because I love my country. For me, Bastar is a film about patriotism. So, I do stand by my film.”
Comments
0 comment