PK was a trap, and the naive stepped into it

Even before 2014 was over it was evident that PK the new Aamir Khanstarrer was headed towards becoming a box office hit And so it has proved to be On Friday PK was declared the ldquohighest grossing Bollywood filmrdquo having raked in a whopping mindboggling R276 crore within a fortnight of its releaseThis is the sort of stuff that the film industryrsquos dreams are made of Everybody who makes a film hopes to rake in big bucks But few actually realise that dream Hollywood hopefuls could learn a trick or two from the makers of PK and Aamir Khan of courseIt is anybodyrsquos guess as to what contributed to the filmrsquos runaway success Aamir Khanrsquos fans they are more than the proverbial legion would claim that the popular appeal of their schoolboyfaced silver screen idol drew the masses to theatres across the country Others would say it was the holiday season with little excitement around folks chose to go watch the filmHerersquos my hypothesis The brouhaha over the filmrsquos avowedly provocative pinpricks directed at Hindus and the mediarsquos overheated reportage of protests by sundry Hindu groups enraged faces and posters being torn make for theatrical primetime TV footage prompted many to go see PK if only to check out whether what was being claimed was trueWalked right into the trap The brouhaha over the filmrsquos avowedly provocative pinpricks directed at Hindus and the mediarsquos overheated reportage of protests by sundry Hindu groups enraged faces and posters being torn make for theatrical primetime TV footage prompted many to go see PK File picIn other words had the aggrieved whether their grievance is justified is an entirely different issue as is the loathsome role of Censor Board chief Leela Samson whose life mission is to belittle Hindus and denigrate Hinduism not made such a spectacle and thereby provided grist to TRPhungry media mills that excel at manufacturing controversy it is possible that PK would have made modest money and sunk without a trace For evidence ask your friends if they remember a film called HaiderA friend who is a film buff and far more knowledgeable about Bollywood movies than me said Aamir Khan and others involved with the making of PK should issue a formal statement thanking the protesters But for their raucous criticism and loutish activism the film would not have grabbed so much attention and tradeHe was also of the view that the pinpricks directed at Hindus in the film were calculated to generate heat and dust It was a trap a marketing gimmick and the naiumlve stepped into it A fortnight later the protests will be forgotten PK will become a footnote of Bollywood history Aamir Khan and his pals will still be busy counting their moneyAnd thereby hangs a tale If Hindus mdash if not all then a significant number of them mdash were genuinely upset with the not so subtle mockery of their rituals and faith they should have sought the intervention of courts Pursuing the legal course is above board and invoking the law a legitimate rightLittle or no purpose is served by asserting that Aamir Khan would not dare lampoon Christianity and Islam or make fun of padres and mullahs or for that matter the rites and rituals associated with Sunday mass or Friday namaaz Thatrsquos a truismNeither Christianity nor Islam would ever be the subject of any criticism in films as that would invoke the immediate and stern ire of Christians and Muslims Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was murdered for his short film on the treatment of women in Islam Submission The murderer was a Muslim and there was not even muted criticism of his dastardly deedBritain despite its liberal credentials and multiculti hype did not allow Martin Scorsesersquos The Last Temptation of Christ to be shown in theatres when it was released Closer home in India Christians demanded and secured a ban on The Da Vinci Code in several states in places where it was shown the film was mangled by censors and its makers were forced to declare that it was a work of fictionExamples abound There really is no point in elaborating on them Yet it would be in order to suggest that Hindus or those among them who are offended by PK need not emulate either Muslims or Christians How else would we as a nation be different from those countries that have banned Exodus as a brazen demonstration of their antiSemitismI have always held that if a faith mdash and I mean any faith mdash is so weak and feeble that a film or a book can damage it then it is not worth adhering to Conversely that which is sacred can never be contaminated by the profaneThe writer is a senior journalist based in the National Capital Region His Twitter handle is KanchanGupta