Creative freedom or freedom of intentional offence?

Creative freedom or freedom of intentional offence?

Creative freedom is a trendy topic since the controversy of the movie ‘Padmaavat’ broke out. The word ‘freedom of expression’ includes creative freedom for the artists to explore the beauties of art. While the film makers retain on their statement that the movie does not dishonour the sentiments of any religion, caste or society, and that they have preserved historical accuracy, the protesters refuse to believe it.

Now, this is not the first time this particular director is accused of playing with history or in this case, a historical epic poem. Even during the production of his previous movie, he was accused of the same. However, he got away then. But the movie turned out to be poorly researched with having flaws in historical facts. Apart from that the movie obscured the parts that were, in fact, more exciting to watch.

Therefore it is natural for people to anticipate the same thing again from the director’s next movie. However, it is not the only case where Bollywood has gone a bit further with the word creative freedom. And it is certainly not only the Bollywood. Even Indian Television Industry have been playing around creative freedom for quite a long time. Fortunately for them, those shows both lose their TRPs and get shut down or they just end terribly.   

Using 'creative freedom' TV Industry have been showing a fictionalized life-story of the greatest emperor in the Indian History, Chandragupta Maurya, without even slightest historical accuracy. His love saga with this fictional character not only obscure the great conquests of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, but it also ignores the most inspirational side of the Chandragupta and Chanakya.

Bollywood has shown the most prestigious monarch of Indian Subcontinent, Ashoka Maurya, whose name glorifies the most number of awards in this nation, whose emblem is the national emblem of India and whose wheel of Dharma adorns our national flag; as their mainstream Bollywood love boy, who chases after a woman he falls in love, while completely ignoring the motivational part of his life and tragic part of his old age. Although TV industry also came with a similar concept few years ago, where they showed some absurd sequence of stories leading nowhere closer to the actual history. Fortunately, the show was taken down due to lack of popularity.

Using the same freedom, they have been showing distorted Vedic and Puranic Stories in the name of mythology. For past few years, it had become a trend on TV that once a mythological show ends, another comes up. And the crucial part is that they all are poorly researched, which also seem to be designed only to accomplish the modern agendas through mythological medium.

In times like this, when the current generations are illiterate in history and mythology, it is expected that their creative freedom feeds them with the stories that emerges in their own heads, which unfortunately leads them to believe that the history is what is shown to them on screen.

For the ‘Padmaavat’, well, a poem or a work of literature, if remembered for over a century, attains a great place in culture. And if it is still remembered after half a millennia, it is an epic. And when adapted, it becomes the responsibility of the creator/director to follow it honourably. If your creative freedom crushes the heart of that story, it is no longer an endeavour to revive it.

The similar thing can be seen in modern literature as well. Some writers are coming up with the assurance that they are retelling the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, while in truth, they come up with some absurd fantasized storyline that crushes the soul of those epic stories. People, who are learned or familiar with history and mythology, those stories come as the utmost shock. And yet, there is a shocking amount of enthusiasm among the youth for those books. One might wonder why would they want to read fantasized retelling over the original work, but then we know the answer. Our youth wants to read ‘simplified’ versions, which can easily get into their heads. And that is what fulfils the purpose for such writers. They feed them whatever they like and earn millions out of it.

It is quite clear that this ‘creative freedom’ is being misused by the artists in numerous ways, and yet they get away with it due to lack of knowledge in youth. But should they get away with it? Our constitution allows freedom of expression in order to let our creativity explore the new worlds of art. But if that creativity is in any way disrespectful to the history and the culture, it must be regulated. Unlike those western countries dawned in the era of modernity, India carries the breath of thousands of years old culture and is the northern star that has enlightened the world with its knowledge. The modern knowledge in our youth may fail to inform them about the greatness of ancient India, but they must not disgrace it with their mocking words. Their ignorance would be bliss. But the day they start stating foolish statements like ‘Jauhar was patriarchal and forced onto women’, one really wonders what their IQ level could be. For our youth, honour is not important; fulfilling one’s ambition is. They fail to realize that the roots of our country, our culture, lie in truth and righteousness. If our civilization has survived so long and has attained such great thing, it because we believe truth to be the paramount existence and righteousness to be the greatest path of life. They do not and will never realize what it requires for a civilization to survive and cherish for these many years.

On one side, Bollywood makes and supports each other for such creative freedom, but when it comes to the books or movies that features other religions, they hide in their luxurious homes. It has been also seen numerous times from Salman Rushdie’s book ‘The Satanic Verses’ to Rahman’s cartoon on prophet. All these things were banned and yet no one came to defend their right of creative freedom. That shows the hypocrisy of Bollywood. When they are certain that this would eventually be accepted by tolerant people, they just raise their voice in support. But when they know that something will aim to actual intolerant people, their mouths get dry.

Call it a lesson, or a request; these so called artists must learn one thing from such protests.  Protest is also a part of freedom of expression and a fundamental right to the citizen. But if artists’ ego is more important than the public order, it provokes them. If you can't pay them (history and culture) an honorary tribute, leave them out of your creativity. Your greed of wealth will be satisfied by feeding people with some love stories.