How Ramayana frees Bollywood from polarisation politics | Political Pulse News
On the eve of Diwali, the Hindi film industry has released yet another movie on the Ramayana, three years after the film Adipurush based on the epic was panned for the use of street slang and depiction of Ravana played by Saif Ali Khan.
However, the latest retelling of the Ramayana, starring Ranbir Kapoor as Ram and Yash as Ravana, deviates from the allegedly divisive Bollywood tropes and narratives which have marked a slew of its historical and mythological movies in recent years.
It also breaks free from the shadow of contemporary politics – something that seems to have informed several recent iterations of history and mythology on big and small screens, which have been accused of trying to shape public opinion in partisan ways.
Ramayana: Rise of a Legend
This Ramayana, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, takes a few liberties with popular versions of the Hindu epic, but not in any predictable manner that the Hindi cinema has done over the past decade. It starts with the depiction of the Asuras more as an underclass, with Ravana’s mother admonishing him for indulging in music as his people suffer. Dejected, Ravana travels to the mountains for hard penance, and gets the boon of being all-powerful. He takes Lanka from the devas (gods) and defeats Indra, who then appeals to Lord Vishnu to save the world from the Asuras.
Vishnu takes incarnation as Ram in Ayodhya, born to king Dashrath, who is played by Arun Govil. Ram grows up to be a great warrior but detached from wars, often brooding over what fate has in store for him. When Kaikeyi gets him to go into exile to make her son Bharat the king, Ram heads to the forest with wife Sita (played by Sai Pallavi) and devoted brother Lakshman.
Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama and Sai Pallavi as Sita in Ramayana, with Ravie Dubey playing Lakshman.
Ravana’s sister Surpanakha falls in love with Ram in the forest, and when he politely refuses to marry her because he was bound to a vow never to be involved with any woman except Sita, a desperate Surpanakha impersonating as Sita earns the wrath of Lakhman, who chops off her nose.
While the plot is familiar universally, this film’s treatment is distinct: Surpanakha is humanised as a woman infatuated but spurned – she reasons with Ram that Dashrath also had three wives. And Sita admonishes Lakshman for the cruel attack on a woman who had committed no big sin. She also predicts that the result would not be good, hinting at Karma’s ominous comeback.
Surpanakha urges Ravana to take revenge, while his wife Mandodari advises caution, saying Ram’s exploits suggest he is an incarnation of Vishnu. The legend of Dashanan (the one with 10 heads) comes alive in a twist when Ravana sits alone contemplating what to do – in a dramatic scene, 10 versions of him give different suggestions, but come together in unison when he decides to take revenge. The character of Ravana in the film is a mix of cruelty, pride and a deep feeling of hurt at his people, Asuras, not being given the respect they deserve.
Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayana: Part 1.
This movie, the saga’s part 1, ends when Ravana abducts Sita by a sleight of hand, kills a valiant Jatayu trying to rescue her, and leaves Ram distraught. Ram says in despair that his mother exiled him, his father died in grief, and his beloved wife was also snatched away from him by fate. Then he vows to change his fate – he declares that he would go to Lanka at any cost, fight all adversaries, and rescue Sita.
Few binaries exist here: the protagonist is a noble warrior, the antagonist a man carrying wounds of ignominy. They complement each other even when they have yet to come face to face. The movie does not pander to the prevailing political situation, avoids dog whistles, and keeps its focus on a spectacular rendering of a legend.
Ramayana tele-serial
The most popular retelling of Ramayana was done on the state-run Doordarshan in the late 1980s when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister and the VHP had already started a campaign demanding a Ram temple at the site of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
The TV serial Ramayana was engaging and kept away from politics, but it hit the small screen when the incumbent Congress was facing an increasing Hindu mobilisation, and was also under pressure from Muslim voters. The party gave mixed signals to wriggle out of its crisis, and Ramayana, with Ram played by Arun Govil, was seen as a nod to the majority Hindu sentiments.
Yash playing Ravana in Ramayana: Part 1.
The Ramayana serial’s weekly episodes turned the already popular epic into a daily subject of discussion in households so much so that when the BJP latched on to the Ram temple demand in 1989, a large section of voters in north, western and central India gravitated towards the party, breaking their decades-long association with the Congress.
Break from Bollywood fare
Several observers point out that both the current cinematic rendering of the Ramayana and its televised avatar 40 years ago sought to capture the essence of the epic while steering clear of any propaganda.
This is in contrast to several films on history and mythology churned out by Bollywood in recent years, which have been accused of peddling falsehoods and stereotypes.
Padmawat’s depiction of Alauddin Khilji highlighted his inhumanity. Udaibhan Rathore as a Mughal fort commander in Tanhaji was depicted less as a Rajput and more as a Muslim through his costumes. Panipat sought to project the Maratha-Hindu nationalism during the Third Battle of Panipat. Chhava turns Aurangzeb into a grotesque caricature in front of Sambhaji.
The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story were also seen as similar bids to create polarisation among communities. It can, however, also be argued that this phase followed a similar cycle on the other extreme earlier.
The latest Ramayana seems to break easy binaries. Ram is portrayed as someone most Hindus revere him for – ethical, compassionate, brooding, but also a great warrior when war is thrust upon him. It depicts a melancholic hero – and a complex villain. Ravana here even has shades which are similar to the character of Karna in the epic Mahabharat.
