Inauguration of the film festival, 'Popular Bombay Cinema of the Nehru Era'
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
3 November 2009
A month-long film festival, 'Popular Bombay Cinema of the Nehru Era' is being organized in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) this November to celebrate the 120th anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru's birth. The festival was inaugurated on 3 November 2009 in the NMML auditorium by esteemed director and film-maker, Yash Chopra, followed by screening of his film, Dharmputra (1961).
The evening was graced by the presence of Sheila Dixit, chief minister of Delhi, Kiran Walia, health minister of Delhi, Gauhar Raza, poet, film-maker and social scientist, NISTADS, Madan Gopal Singh, accomplished sufi singer and senior fellow, NMML, and Ira Bhaskar, associate professor, School of Arts and Aesthetics, JNU and curator of the film festival.
The NMML director, Mridula Mukherjee, in her welcome address, informed the audience of the events scheduled to be hosted by the institution this month. Referring to the shaping of Jawaharlal Nehru's worldview, she said that it did not emerge out of abstract theory or perusal of sacred texts, either of religious denominations or mesmerizing ideologies. Nehru absorbed the best of Marxism, but decades before Gorbachov, he insisted that that there could not and should not be any socialism without democracy. But above all it was the Mahatma who influenced Nehru the most. 'Gandhiji proved so right, as he often did in most things, when he predicted that "when I am gone, he [Nehru] will speak in my voice." The terrible legacy of the Second World War, the atom bombs, the senseless violence that accompanied partition, convinced Jawaharlal more than ever of the necessity of struggling for peace and non-violence at home and in the world', she said. The NMML director emphasized on the continued relevance of Nehru's world-view in today's terror-stricken world, in which dates have become signifiers of fear rather than achievement. 'We need to ensure that more children grow up knowing the meaning of 14 November rather than 26/11', she said.
Delhi chief minister, Sheila Dixit, in her address commented on the subtlety of the films of 1950s and 1960s and said that given the impressive list of films scheduled to be screened in the NMML, she would highly recommend the film festival to all.
Quoting lyrics by Sahir Ludhianvi from his film, Dharmputra, 'Yeh kiska lahu hai kaun mara/ ai rahabar mulko kaum bata/ yeh kiska lahu hai kaun mara', Yash Chopra regretted how the reality of 1947 was true even today. In his last directorial venture, Veer Zaara, he sought to give out the message of love regardless of any barrier, border or religion, he noted. However, increasingly, few films were being made on this subject as less tolerance is found among people. Even the mention of a name-be it that of a Hindu, Muslim or even a political party-gets embroiled in a controversy, he said.
Gauhar Raza, while talking about Nehru's vision being the common man's vision, also spoke about the scientific temper of the former. While Raza elaborated on the secular and socialist aspects of Nehruvian vision, Madan Gopal Singh spoke about the youthfulness and idealism of Nehru and called the Nehruvian era an era of romance.
The curator of the film festival, Ira Bhaskar explained that the festival highlights films that both articulate Nehru's vision and ideology and are critical of the capitalistic impulses of that period. The liberal vision that is associated with Nehru came to have widespread currency in political, social and cultural terms in the years that he was in the helm of affairs. Bombay cinema responded in many different ways to the euphoria of the early years of Independence, as well as to the modernizing impulse in the Nehru years.
