Rewind & Ramble: When facts meet films

Regular cinegoers are all too familiar with long-winding disclaimers especially if the film is steeped in facts. The caveat, ‘inspired by facts’ is a regular enough rider to escape both legal liability and factual veracity.

But more often than not films run into trouble even before their anointed tryst with silver screens. Latest case in point is much anticipated Dhurandhar. Before all eyes could rest on Ranveer Singh’s chameleon act in the spy-thriller, martyr Major Mohit Sharma’s parents slapped a case against the makers. Their grouse—the producers have not taken permission from the family. Director-producer Aditya Dhar’s defence is simple — the film is not based on the late army officer. But hyperactive netizens have been quick to point out uncanny similarities even though they have only seen the trailer.

Not too long ago Haq too faced a similar quandary which revisited Shah Bano’s landmark verdict. Bano’s daughter had filed a case which was duly dismissed by the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Of course, the director had chosen a safe path. In the film her character is called Shazia Bano though credits tipped the hat to Shah Bano as well as Jigna Vora’s book Bano: Bharat ki Beti. More recently Farhan Akhtar’s 120 Bahadur too came under the line of fire as protestors demanded the film be titled 120 Ahir Vir, to honour the valour of the Ahir community in the Battle of Rezang La.

Dhurandhar is kind of atypical in the sense that the family wants the makers to acknowledge that the film dovetails, their son, an exceptional brave-heart’s life as undercover agent in Pakistan. But even when there is a biopic be it Neerja, Mountain Man, Rang Rasiya and many more, there is controversy. Things become even more ticklish when the person on whom the film is based is not alive. Clearly family members, understandably so, are more sensitive. Precisely, why, perhaps the Delhi High Court asked the CBFC to reexamine Dhurandhar’s certification. The board’s contention is; Major Mohit Sharma’s life has little bearing on Ranveer Singh’s Hamza.

As of now we rest our case, since we have not as yet seen the film, the question that arises is; how paramount is the permission of the person and the family? Legally speaking, what’s in public domain ought to be for public consumption. Simultaneously misrepresentation does tantamount to defamation. In a country where even negative characters are whitewashed in our cinema, should the family fear that heroes, especially a martyr’s life, will not find a fair representation? To be just many makers do extensive research before putting their imagination to flight. For the biopic on Sardar Udham Singh, director Shoojit Sircar had even sent one of his team members to The Tribune office for a detailed look at the archives of the pre-independence period.

Yes for the sake of entertainment quotient, a romantic angle, few songs could be added to make the story palatable to audiences who clearly want more than a factoid. So even the story of celebrated athlete Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag had a peppering of songs and extra masala which some critics thought was reason enough for censure.

Fair enough; not all films which marry facts with fiction are superlative. Often the line runs so thin that as viewers we are forever befuddled as to what is true and what isn’t. But to allay the misconception of family members, not just in the case of Dhurandhar, but otherwise too let it be remembered that our makers can mostly be faulted for an overtly sweet portrayal of real men and women. As a rule, fault finding is neither their intention nor purpose, not even when the subject demands so. Controversial figures like Punjabi singer Amar Singh Chamkila are dealt with sense and sensibility, if the maker is of the caliber of Imtiaz Ali. Of course, that does not stop family from crying foul.

Flirting with facts has consequences… but then even films which fall in the fictional realm are somewhere based on events and happenings around us. Though Aditya has claimed that as and when he does make a biopic on the Ashoka Chakra Awardee, he will seek all necessary permissions, judging by the hoopla around his film, one wonders if he would. But if and when he does, the naysayers must remember what noted filmmaker Ketan Mehta once said; biopic is as much about a person as an idea. Thus at times