Iqbal ya Golmaal? Physically Challenged in Hindi Cinema

Magik
Magik   | Talking-Points | November 13, 2009 at 7:51 am       Print this article!  Print

The best it can get

The best it can get

It was just another day at work, but as I have a diploma in kicking my own behind, I end the day by attending a show put together by an acquaintance and his group, where the talents of the physically challenged children were to be showcased. The organizers were a bunch of 20-odd people who I realized were on the mission to redeem their sorry lives by pretending to do good for the ‘lesser mortals’. It struck me as the curtain rose. The lights went off, the organizers took center-stage and introduced themselves in a witty manner, true blue Bollywood style, what with the spotlight shifting on each one as they did the honours.

The worst it can get

The worst it can get

Saala WTF! What about the physically challenged kids who would have been waiting in the green room, for their turn. Anyways, once the grand intro session was done, the ‘real event’ started and I was moved beyond tears by the way the children presented themselves, stood the ground, grabbed the applause, expressed gratitude and made way for the next performance. And then lightning struck me, when an insensitive idiot sitting beside me, leaned towards me and said “We should thank God, we are not like this.” That was it. I just got up & left the show, as I just couldn’t handle the colossal mockery any more.

This because I had experienced first hand how it is to travel in the ‘handicapped bogie’ in the Mumbai local and also the countless jabs that people (usually friends) took at me after my accident. Though I used to laugh it off when friends called me ‘Langda Tyagi’ or ‘Salim Langda’ but the damn remark used to hurt. Back then I didn’t have PFC, but today’s another day. So I thought why not put it on this forum and see how films have added to the existing plight of the physically challenged. This because when I went down memory lane only a few examples that upheld the dignity of the physically challenged struck me… Gulzar Saab’s Koshish, Balu Mahendra’s Sadma, SLB’s Black, NK’s Iqbal. (Within the domain of films I have watched)

But Golmaal reigns supreme. And hence people who are differently abled don’t get their place in the society and I firmly believe that cinema has played a huge role in that, if not in anything else. It pains me so much… may be due to the fact that I have been through the trauma myself. I just can’t laugh at deaf-blind jokes. Recently in APKGK, for a moment I was mega pissed. Everything was going fine, why did the director need to pack in a ‘andha hai kya?’ joke. Don’t we owe them even that much? So much for sensitivity.

Koshish is one film which remains etched in my psyche for the sheer fact that the protagonists held their heads high always, through the ups & downs of life. Ever since my tryst with cinema began, it was the second movie that made me cry. The first was Kamal Hassan’s Sadma. Even that film dealt with the case of disability with so much heart. But yes, these days heart is where the wallet is & the wallet speaks a different language altogether, which I don’t quiet understand.

Anyways, now that I have poured my heart out, I am feeling much better. Please do feel free to enlighten me of other movies in this league that I have missed. I think it’s totally gross to show one of our own brethren in a poor light, just because God Almighty chose to give them a gift different than us. We are all but children of the same God.

Tags: ajab prem ki, Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani, differently abled, gulzar, Kamal Hassan, physically challenged
GD Star Rating
loading...

 

33 Comments

  1. Ajitesh Pathak Ajitesh Pathak says:
    November 13, 2009 at 8:28 am

    Khamoshi was another one. TZP as well

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  2. Saurabh Saurabh says:
    November 13, 2009 at 9:47 am

    nice heartfelt article .. but the sad part is that whatever we see,read or hear we can never feel the pain that a differently abled person goes through … its also strange how terms keep on changing ..first it was “disabled” , then it was changed to “physically challenged” and now what we use is “differently abled” …does this euphmeism makes any diff ..my point is why there has to be a term at all !

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  3. Gopi Gopi says:
    November 13, 2009 at 9:49 am

    A couple of months back a friend of mine uploaded pictures on Facebook of her celebrating her birthday with some kids with, what’s a politically correct term for this, developmental delay. It didn’t feel good. I mean, like you said, sorry life, got to make yourself better on your birthday. I remember writing, “Got to do something special for “special” kids? Why don’t you pick a fight with them?”

    Anyways, TZP had Dyslexia. Don’t think that’s a big deal. Abhishek Bachchan survived.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  4. ashwini ashwini says:
    November 13, 2009 at 9:49 am

    Heartfelt post magik bro. Koshish is one of my favorites too. As atrocious as it may sound i still havent seen Sadma. Need to do that asap….

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
    • Jahanpanah Jahanpanah says:
      November 13, 2009 at 10:20 am

      Sadma made me cried too as a child but watching it again when grown up, not. It is a good movie nonetheless.

      GD Star Rating
      loading...
      Reply
    • Indu Indu Raman says:
      November 13, 2009 at 9:28 pm

      Dont forget the gross and insensitive scene in Om Shanti Om (SRK without arms or legs)which negates everything the makers ever do.

      GD Star Rating
      loading...
      Reply
  5. dishooom PS says:
    November 13, 2009 at 10:42 am

    nice post yet again Magik, specially the subject… juvenile as I may sound, but I feel a Golmaal is also helpful at times… I was never a fan of Golmaal, but the difference that this one had from others was it somewhere made sure that a mute guy was as normal a part of the society as any other lay man is… yeah it was stupid comedy with absolutely no sensitivity for anything anyways… but then again for the first time I did not need to look at a handicapped character with sympathies, but more or less like an average hero material… so all in all … decent… somewhere the movie did make me feel for the character for the handicap that he has, the same emotion which strikes me when I have to see a character diseased (anand) or maybe a heart warming pet animal (haathi mere saathi) … or a loser hero … golmaal just left the impairness as is and the hero continues is as comfortably placed as all the other jerks in the movie.. and keep the story on regular pace… of course not trying to compare it to Koshish and Sparsh which were movies made on the people suffering from impairs, they were gems, but if there was another ‘hero’ in these movies and if the movie was to be seen from his purview these characters would ve still evoked a lot sympathy…
    ………………………
    and if talk of performances, somehow people media and critics were gung ho about Tussar doing the role and he performed well, well actually it was the character that came to the fore not actualy Tussar, I’d say the star was actually Sharman Joshi who was the interpreter, who would give this guy words and expression in his talk and at times mixing it with his own, he was brilliant, especially in every scene that he is supposed to be translating tussar’s language…
    ……………………..
    A few other good movies would be Anjali, for that matter I even liked Ajay Devgan’s brother in Tera Mera Saath Rahe…. maybe I can think of a few more…

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
    • dishooom PS says:
      November 13, 2009 at 10:46 am

      eeks typo: “somewhere the movie did NOT make me feel for the character for the handicap that he has, the same emotion which strikes me when I have to see a character diseased (anand) or maybe a heart warming pet animal (haathi mere saathi) … or a loser hero “

      GD Star Rating
      loading...
      Reply
  6. dishooom PS says:
    November 13, 2009 at 10:53 am

    oh wow.. m sorry I am confused… but I guess I logged into PFC as a site for the first time yesterday, this being my ID… but this is PS…. oz, is there some way I can edit my display name?

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  7. Sridhar Mayur Sridhar Mayur says:
    November 14, 2009 at 1:29 am

    Magik, I’ve been a part of the Koshish life all through my life. Will let you know in detail when we meet.

    The post brings back many memories. Brilliant performances by Sanjeev Kumar and Jaya Bhaduri in Koshish. Nana Patekar was awesome in Khamoshi. He portrayed the emotions of deaf&mute person with so much perfection, I became a fan of him after that.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  8. Sethumadhavan Sethumadhavan says:
    November 14, 2009 at 5:23 am

    Magik- This is really heartfelt.I feel this is a very sensitive issue which a majority of us do not handle properly, be it in films or otherwise.Do check out a Tamil movie called Mozhi- Jyotika plays a girl who’s deaf and dumb and does it so well- its very realistic.Also there’s a difference in the movie.The hero- Prithviraj himself is shown as an extremely sensitive character who even tries his best to understand how her world feels like.I dont want to say anything further on the movie- as it may spoil the impact for you.Do watch the movie yaar.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  9. Vinay Joshi Vinay Joshi says:
    November 14, 2009 at 9:53 am

    Chup chup ke: Kareena was dumb.
    Tom Dick & Harry: Tom [Dino Morea] is deaf. Dick [Anuj Sawhney] is blind. Harry [Jimmy Shergill] is dumb.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  10. vaibhav jayaswal vaibhav jayaswal says:
    November 14, 2009 at 2:15 pm

    Maamu! Gay as it might seem but I love you for this article!! Very touching and very apt! I think you have done a great job of capturing a rarely touched topic! Keep up the great job buddy!

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply
  11. Jyoti Rayaprol Jyoti Rayaprol says:
    November 15, 2009 at 3:26 pm

    I think it is not so much a lack of sensitivity that causes people to act in ways that seems insensitive- it is more the lack of knowledge… in that respect I think the two movies that imparted more insight into the world of differently-abled people were Koshish and Sparsh and so they were probably the only movies (that I know of in Bollywood) that not only had physically challenged characters, but also educated the audience about their challenges and their lives. I was really amazed by the scene in Sparsh that showed the children of a blind school playing cricket with a ball that made a sound to guide the children. That was a moment that changed my perspective and made it interesting for me to learn how humans cope with different situations and the resilience of humans as a race, and therefore created a sort of appreciation and understanding in me that I lacked upto that point. Fortunately I watched that movie when I was very young, and my outlook has been quite different since. Until the point that any segment of society is kept separated or until their ways are not well known, others fail to understand them and at times cannot see beyond the obvious and thus are unable to appreciate them fully. I think the most derogatory trend has been of inviting children with various challenges on reality shows and then the stars clapping and shedding tears for them and then donating a measly sum to their organisation for some free publicity. That thoroughly disgusts me. I remember not so long ago, Amitabh Bachchan was on Aaj Tak “humbly” stating how the story of a sick child moved him until the point that he decided to help him. He donated a paltry 1 lakh rupees and in exchange Aaj Tak covered the story for 1/2 an hour and he came out looking like a masaiah!
    Anyway, I guess I’m just venting now- but the point I really wanted to make was that it is important to educate people how people with challanges live their everyday lives without relying on some things that we cannot think of living without and how they adapt and come out as winners- and create more respect instead of pity for the differently abled.

    GD Star Rating
    loading...
    Reply

Leave a Reply

:) :lol: :rofl: :banginghead: :witsend: :yahoo: :wacko: :bow: :glasses: :notsure: :roll: 8-O :twisted: :cry: :cool: more »