| Written by Aamna Haider Isani, |
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 Banning Indian content in Pakistan will only serve to kill the bonds created between two countries that share a common love for arts, literature and entertainment. This article discusses how much Pakistanis love the Bollywood and how it will affect them if Indian content is totally bannd in Pakistan, as suggested by many people. Indian films have been playing in Pakistani cinemas for a little less than a year but Bollywood has always played a significant role in our lives for as long as we can remember. We have grown up feeling the fury of Angry Amitabh in films like Deewar and laughing to his incredible comic timing in those like Namak Halal.
We have jived on giant matkas with Jumping Jeetu and have been in a very committed relationship with Shah Rukh Khan ever since he uttered the words "K…k…k…Kiran" in Darr. We have been as obsessed with Bollywood as Rahul was with Kiran, minus the psycho factor of course.
'Jay jay shiv shankar' has been a mehndi staple ever since Mehnaz wore that striking orange sari and twisted to it; we have all played 'Mausam masatana' on our car stereos during the monsoon downpour. The love affair we've had with Bollywood has matured over the years but it is a relationship that has affected the way we sing, dance, love, make friends and enjoy life in general. It has enriched our happiness and soothed us in moments of sorrow. No matter what we go through in life, there has always been a film or a character drawn in parallel, such is the proximity we have had with Bollywood.
That intimacy found a new level with the KaraFilm Festival and the arrival of screen idols such as Ajay Devgan to Pakistan and it came closer still with the release of Indian films in Pakistani cinemas last year. Then there were events such as the Carnival de Couture, a high society event that played host to the likes of Arjun Rampal, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila Matondkar and more. With an acute scarcity of sufficient local content to keep us entertained, we welcomed the Indian imports with open arms, as if welcoming a lost lover back home. And why not?
Not only do we share a culture with India, we speak the same language, laugh at the same jokes and cry at the same tragedy. A westerner may never understand why Rajesh Khanna compared his heart to a blank sheet of paper as he sang "Kora kaghaz tha yeh man mera" but every single person in Pakistan could.
Now why should anyone have to give up that kind of rapport?
The answer lies in the great India-Pakistan divide, which has risen as the 'zamane ke zaalim deewar' in our love affair with Bollywood. Films are welcomed here when things are peaceful at the borders but the slightest hint of hostility not only distances the countries but cinema too. In India, producers have avenged their nation's pride by making films that have taken a negative tone: the post Kargil productions are a good example. In Pakistan, any sort of cross border tension results in a clamp on Indian imports: films and TV soaps, though most of the times any 'action' is restricted to anti India rhetoric only.
The United States dropped the nuclear bomb on Japan during World War II - that being an act of mass destruction - which resulted in the loss of life as well as the mutation of several generations to follow. One can still see the after effects in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hollywood was never banned in Japan and if anything, one saw a great influence of American culture on the Japanese youth. One even witnessed a group of eighteen year olds dancing to American rap in front of the Hiroshima Memorial Museum.
No matter what the issues are, art and literature should never be put up against a wall because art and literature (inclusive of film and music) can only open minds and free mind sets; it can only help evolution and cannot possibly serve any detrimental side effects. How can we, as a nation, imagine any forward movement (mental as well as literal) if we think of isolating ourselves within a hole and cutting off bridges with India or any part of the world that threatens us?
That doesn't mean putting up patriotic Indian films that push an anti Pakistan agenda (for they are targeting the Indians alone) but other than them, Bollywood is harmless at large. What possible damage could a Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi or Ghajini do, except provide some much needed entertainment to the people of Pakistan?
In fact, one would like to openly challenge all those people talking of a ban on Bollywood to actually take Indian films (past and present) out of their lives. That means no more Kishore Kumar or Mohammad Rafi in the car; no more Singh is Kinng or Dostana soundtracks on the iPod. Pakistani TV shows without Indian content. Television without the DVD channels, Indian soaps as well as Star and Sony. Concerts without covers of Bollywood songs. No more Indian award shows or literature. Take it all out and I'm afraid you're left with a pretty bland entertainment scene. This article originally appeared in The News.
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