Kabir Khan says politics of a film is very important, cites Bajrangi Bhaijaan example: ‘It zeroes down to niyat kya hai’
Filmmaker Kabir Khan, who has helmed films like New York, Ek Tha Tiger, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and most recently 83, feels that people in the film industry cannot be ‘apolitical’. He believes that every scene, dialogue and character speaks of the political views of that filmmaker. Citing the example of his superhit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he even explained how he includes his politics in the movies he makes.
In a recent interview, he told Bollywood Hungama that he gets “very worried” when people in the film industry say that they are apolitical. He said, “The point is, as human beings you cannot be apolitical. The way we frame a character is telling our politics. The words, the lines our characters are speaking, is telling our politics. So, don’t assume you are apolitical.”
He added that saying that you are apolitical only “reeks of your privilege” since what is happening in the country doesn’t affect you and “you all with money can live in a bubble.”
For the filmmaker, the politics of a film is very important, as it “zeroes down to ‘niyat kya hai, aap batana kya chahte ho ultimately.’” He supported his statement giving the example of the “Chicken Kuk-Doo-Koo” song from Salman Khan-led Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
Khan explained, “The Chicken Song at face value is actually the most popular song of the kids because of the way Salman and Kareena are dancing and all that. It’s the most political song of the film because it came in the face of the beef ban. And that song is basically saying– this is Chaudhary Dhaba, which is a metaphor for India. Aadha hai nonveg, aadha hai veg (half dhaba is non-veg, half is veg). You decide what you want to eat and all of us can sit together and eat. So that’s the way you slip into politics.”
Bajrangi Bhaijaan was released in 2015. It followed the story of Lord Hanuman’s follower Bajrangi (Salman), who finds a girl named Munni from Pakan lost in India. He goes at great lengths to reunite her with her parents in the neighbouring nation. The film starred Kareena Kapoor Khan opposite Salman. It was a blockbuster hit at the box office.
