It’s been raining biopics in India! We have had biopics about sports stars such as M S Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Mary Kom and Azharuddin. We’ve had biopics about prodigies such as Budhiya Singh, female wrestlers (Dangal) as well as stories about film stars such as Sanju. We are also to have a slew of political biopics, such as The Accidental Prime Minister, NTR and now Thackeray about Shiv Sena founder and Supremo Bal Thackeray. The Thackeray trailer released recently and we revisited an oft asked question: why cannot Bollywood make faithful biopics that tell the unvarnished story …sans glorification and without glossing over inconvenient facts?
The trailer opens with scenes of violent rioting and then cuts to Nawazuddin Siddiqi as Bal Thackeray on a stage with the backdrop of a tiger. Thackeray is portrayed as a legendary, fearless leader who is worshipped; an inspirational, larger than life figure.
Southern star Siddharth, who is known to speak out on sensitive political issues expressed his distaste for the content of the film; which in his view normalises hate and glorifies the person known for his hate speech.
Popular journalist Rajdeep Sardesai had a more positive take on the film trailer; observing that a UP Muslim plays the role of a ‘Hindu Hriday Samrat’ in this film.
Playing the title role, Nawazuddin Siddiqui seems to have got right into the skin of the character he plays; his most difficult role as per his own tweet.
If we take examples such as the biopics of M S Dhoni and Sanjay Dutt; made with the knowledge and agreement of the persons depicted, the protagonist is unfailingly portrayed as positive and flawless. Sanju for instance was a protracted PR exercise meant to absolve Dutt of any moral or criminal transgression he was ever accused of.
Since Thackeray is written by a Shiv Sena politician Sanjay Raut, it is unlikely that we will see anything remotely negative about the leader. Even the trailer seems to indicate only a very selective retelling.
According to a Shiv Sena functionary, the movie is a true retelling and is the victory of freedom of expression. Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra, who has always batted for full artistic freedom and zero censorship, feels that films should be permitted to be released according to the filmmakers own vision without cuts of any sort. They can always be debated or countered in public discourse or by another production that presents a different view, he feels.
In characteristic Shiv Sena style (aka dadagiri which was Thackeray’s known style of functioning), apparently other filmmakers have been threatened not to release their movies on 25th January (Thackeray release date).
Former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh’s biopic The Accidental Prime Minister releases on 11th January while Thackeray releases on 25th. Since the first has been decried as ‘fiction’ and ‘unfair’ and ‘inaccurate’ by the Congress, one is rather more inclined to think that this may be a portrayal close to reality.
Since neither the Shiv Sena nor any of the Thackerays are protesting against the second film, we can be reasonably sure that it will be a paean to the late Maharashtrian leader, an embroidered, exculpatory account meant to burnish a halo rather than tell a truthful tale.
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