The movie Zinda did make me think a lot on the past and present of Bollywood movies. Generally, Bollywood has been enjoying the best of a variety of audience, one because of its widespread popularity, the other being the themes of movies that it has been selecting.
I saw Zinda and I thought of Gurudutt’s “Do Ankhen Barah Hath” and all through the movie I sat comparing the two. Of course, story line of both movies is different and definitely presented in accordance with the times they were released. Zinda is doing well and many have seen it, the presentation, dialogues and picturesque scenes etc. are excellent.
There is a thin line of difference between the two movies and that is the direction of thought process in the characters, which is basically the essence of the two movies. Both movies deal with avenging insult, attack and cruelty. But, the approach to avenging all these makes the difference. I very well understand that insult, cruelty and barbarism have a destructive impact on humanity but one need not take avenge to the extent where man indulges in barbaric torture to avenge his insult.
The difference in today’s line of thought in making movies is to be very different, be it the story line or the music or the direction or the cast. This is very well appreciated because every audience would like to see something different and better, every time they go to the theaters. I also belong to this common man audience and I also tend to read human emotions on a similar plane like John Abraham in the movie. The question really is do we need such kind of barbaric torture to avenge a family insult or do we need the attitude of Gurudutt’s song in the movie “Nahin badle ki voh bhaavana”. I am sure many would stand up to say this is old masala and we don’t want to see all over again. But, is that the impact we need to bring in society, is the genuine question of the hour. We make the society, our attitude builds the moral of our society and both of these are the pillars of our existence.
Where is the need for such prolonged torture of a person who does not even know the reason for taking that kind of inhuman torture? Does westernization of thought and story bring us Oscars? Do we need those Oscars that have a negative impact on our society that is changing so fast?
At the end of the movie I was wondering what would be in the mind of the thirteen-year-old daughter of Sanjay Dutt and what would be her plight in future if she knew what her father went through?