Written by: JBR
When we heard that Ajith has become an avatar, we rushed to the theatre to get a ticket for 'Azhwar' and then we wondered why we had hastened so. You wonder why? We have to let you in on the details.
In 'Azhwar,' Ajith's main job is to get rid of the scourge of society. To do this, he dons the make up of Rama, Krishna and Vishnu and removes life from men like letting out the air out of a cycle tire.
Chella has a pretty explanation for why Ajith turns into a Yamadharma.
Without being aware of the consequences, once a sadhu doing kathakalakshebam says, that all men are gods. Bad time for the audience that simple Ajith hears this and asks the sadhu if that means he's a god too. On his part, the sadhu says anyone who does good to people is adored by people and that means he's like a god's avatar.
Ajith's mother adds to the mindset that he's a god's child and this gets fixated in his mind. Predictably, from the next scene on, Ajith starts slaying the baddies.
Why is it that anything to do with god, results in bloodshed? Christianity says love thy neighbor, so why were thousands killed in the name of religion? The same is applicable to those who pray 5 times a day. Thousands perished in community clashes in Gujarat. More lives have been lost in this country in the name of god than for land, women or wealth. This depressing trend has now entered films too!
One such avatar appears in the film 'Nanda' too. Will 'He' come to question the wrongs? No, we have to. An intoxicated Rajkiran says, "You and I are the avatars" and Surya faithfully finishes off the bad men one by one.
Shankar is a high tech guy. The simpleton, who hears Garuda Puranam from his grandma, transforms it into his own guide (publisher Sujatha) and condemns even people who spit or get inebriated, into kingdom come.
In 'Ram,' the hero is a quiet mouse in general. But when his mom tells him that he's a god's child, he flies into a rage when someone bullies him and thrashes him to pieces.
Seeing all this, we are assailed by doubts that maybe these people think god is someone who takes people's lives. It so happens that the directors, who make their heroes take these avatars are really believers. They have spiritual leanings. We now have people protesting against death penalty for the most dreaded terrorists. But in our films of late, heroes behave like god's incarnation and the take the lives of all and sundry. Is this what they call spirituality? Is this the concept of what god is? Is spirituality meant to set right a wrong, or destroy it....
In the north, the film 'Lage Raho Munnabhai' was made not with god but with Gandhi as the inspiration. A gangster reads about Gandhi and then goes about solving social problems the Gandhian way. A small confusion here is, why does this gangster read about Gandhi? The aim is to win over the girl he has his eye on! The Garuda Puranam ambi also romances, by coloring his hair, dancing that the love elephant is arriving and planting tree after demolishing the roof.
Back to the point, the gangster is able to solve issues through non-violent Gandhian ways. If Gandhi is so powerful, isn't the god himself that the spiritualist believes in, more powerful? So why not change the country without killing people?
You could well ask if a bad man really turns good in real life. Do the avatars and Garuda Puranam justify the violence? Coming back to 'Lage Raho Munnabhai,' many people who saw the film, found solution to real problems through non-violence.
By making a film where the hero takes avatars to kill baddies galore, has any good come of it in society? Has any visible change been seen in the society? How can you justify your spirituality by deeming that all bad men should be killed?
If you can't distinguish between spirituality and god, sit and think. Read Osho, Zen and Vallalar.
Someone made a film recently that there is no god. That film was 'Anbe Sivam.' For one who did not believe in god, he said all those who did good were gods. Hearing that, no one wielded an axe and killed another. In fact, they put down their weapons and asked for pardon. "You have realized the error of your ways and apologized, so you have also become a god," said the 'Anbe Sivam' atheist of the reformed person.
In Seeman's 'Thambi,' the hero did not kill those who destroyed his family, but made them see the error of their ways.
When an atheist, people like Gandhi and a victim trying to change the wrongdoer can work wonders, why do our so called spiritual directors show so much violence in the name of god? Is this the way they project their spirituality?
Whether there is a god or not, is not the point. Nor is it necessary to know if man will turn into god. Cinema itself is a figment of imagination…should one go there and lament? That's also not in the question. One humble request is, whatever be the story, could there not be less bloodshed and gore?
Please do not project god as someone ever ready with a sickle to take away human lives!
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-10.01.2007
