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A quarter of the new year has simply sailed by, before we even knew it and in just the wink of an eye. The woolies have now been wrapped up and packed away - not that we’d ever know that different seasons existed from watching our daily telly soaps, it’s always springtime therein. That’s quite the opposite on our news channels – we get to experience distinct temperatures there, ranging from warm & slightly chilly to scorching & icy cold. Many such instances were seen recently during the debates covering sexist remarks by uncouth Politicians, during the passing of the government’s annual Budgets, during the coverage of the new AAP in Delhi’s split up & then patch up & then split up again and during Mrs. Gandhi’s unfamiliar march, leading many opposition parties against the government’s proposed Land Acquisition Bill. Serious tempers were also observed flaring up on the airwaves, in support of and against the ban on the telecast of the documentary based on the infamous & sordid “Nirbhaya” rape case.
I’m not one in favour of outlawing anything whatsoever (I found the beef ban totally ridiculous!) but this documentary titled “India’s Daughter” had me in a quandary. I didn’t like the title of the documentary nor did I appreciate the fact that it was made with a release date pre-arranged to coincide with International Women’s Day. I found both these particulars highly inappropriate.
Further, I don’t buy the idea that the film was meant to raise awareness of any sort – that’s total bosh! It’s a well-known, age-old fact that pathos sells! This was purely a commercial venture that was intended to portray the country in pitiable hues.
In my opinion, Ms Udwin disregarded every rule in the book (including BBC's own standards of ethics) while filming this documentary. She took advantage of Nirbhaya’s illiterate parents and of every loophole in many of the slack systems prevailing in our country. She’s made the typical Indian man out to be a poor-English-speaking, a regressive, a narrow-minded pervert and the typical Indian woman out to be some poor, helpless victim.
I also didn’t agree with her using Nirbhaya real name specially since our own media has gone to great lengths to be sensitive on this issue. There was no compelling need to do so.
Distressing incidents take place the world over and we do what we can to control anti-social elements going about committing these wretched offences but we can’t for a second let ourselves be convinced that we’re a nation spiralling out of control and one that has no hope left. We need to always remember that Indian men also include Rabindranath Tagore, Satya Nadella & Kailash Satyarthi and India’s Daughter is also Sania Nehwal, Kalpana Chawla and Mother Teresa.
Maybe banning the documentary brought the film more attention this time around but hopefully it will deter the likes of Ms Udwin or Britain’s Daughter as I like to call her, from undertaking similar ventures in the future.
On that subdued note, I leave you with some food for thought & I bid you adieu. Until next time, happy reading!
Anu Ranjan
anu@indiantelevisionacademy.com
Twitter handle: @anuranjan1010
