How can a film that has a character declare that secularism is an illness be taken seriously, asks Deepa Gahlot.
The condition of West Bengal as well as Bangladesh is such at the moment that a film meant to discredit both regions could hardly match the real life chaos.
In any case, The Diary of West Bengal, written and directed by Sanoj Mishra, has all the veracity and subtlety of those WhatsApp forwards with their sensational content.
If a film-maker has a point of view -- even though it may be debatable -- he is free to use cinema as a medium to convey it.
But Mishra just has a hate-spewing agenda of half-truths and outright falsehoods, and it is the tragedy of our times that such films are made and some of them even do well at the box office.
There is a kernel of truth in it, the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh is a matter of concern, though this film was made before the current political turmoil in the country.
It begins with an unprovoked attack on Hindu families, the rape of women, and the escape of a few women from the carnage to cross over illegally into India.
Along with these women is a large contingent of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who are being smuggled into India to, believe it or not, swell the numbers of the community in the country and eventually grab the land from the 'kafirs' by either killing or converting them.
There are these fierce militant types, who keep making such statements: Marry many Hindu women, have lots of children, so that the sharia-following tribe can rule.
The Rohingyas, who are brought into India, are given proper identity papers and told to fan out into other states to foment trouble.
While they are at it, these fierce-looking bearded fundamentalists also alter the content in Hindu religious books and distribute them all over the country. They infiltrate the temples and preach to the Hindus their own regressive beliefs. The parade through the village announcing that mobile phones and music are forbidden.
Suhasini (Arshin Mehta), one of the Hindu women who manages to survive rape and conversion in the jungle, is saved by a writer, Prateek (Yajur Marwah), and after giving her a tour of Kolkata, he brings her to his ancestral village of Murshidabad.
Unfortunately for her, he is not what he appears to be.
The MP of this place is Mahmood (Deepak Kamboj), who gets the support of 'Madam' for his nefarious anti-Hindu activities. In case there are any doubts about who Madam might be, the camera focuses on a white sari and flip-flops.
Meanwhile, Suhasini has discussions about whose religion is better, with the domestic help Roza (Alfiya Sheikh), who earnestly tries to convert the Hindu woman. She, who has been a victim of the awful practice of halala, ought to have been at least a little disillusioned with practices sanctioned by religion.
If this was not enough, there is a journalist (Neet Mahal) floating around trying to get the truth to the people.
A man (Dev Faujdar) is desperate to get to Canada but can't get his papers in order because either the power or the wifi is down!
Madam, you see, does not care about the basic facilities or generating employment in her state, so busy is she appeasing the Muslim vote bank.
In a way, it is good that the film is so senseless and populated by terrible actors playing cardboard characters.
Were it to couch its communal propaganda with half-way convincing arguments or present its politics with cogently worded points, it would have been worrisome because it would only cement the misconceptions of people, who are so easily swayed by WhatsApp forwards, being too lazy to check facts.
How can a film that has a character declare that secularism is an illness be taken seriously?
