The success of Raazi, 'The End' of ultra-nationalism
Here is the thing — I cannot watch movies based on wars. When we talk about war movies, there is a particular memory, a faint remembrance that flashes in front of my eyes, from when I was around four and visiting a friend’s house for an evening play-date, living back then in the cantonment area with my mom, nani and my sister.
But what was supposed to be a regular play-date with Barbies and tea sets at my neighbour’s house turned out to be a living nightmare when her older brothers, aged 10 and 14, decided they would watch a movie, and like every fauji household, there were DVDs of Border lying around the house. We debated for a while because I and my friend, who was seven, wanted to watch the Noddy CD. But eventually we gave up as the boys were older and taller – and only they knew how to operate and wire a DVD player that was still new, back then in 2001.
Border began.
My mom had earlier told me that papa had died in war — but I could never visualise what it meant until that day. To watch what was happening on screen then, and to imagine my father being there, was too much for my young mind to handle and halfway through the first CD, I started howling, begging to be taken back home.
I was traumatised.
I couldn't put into words why I was crying because I did not understand what these emotions were. My mother repeatedly asked me if I had had a fight, but even at the word “fight”, I would cringe and start weeping more.
Since then, I never watched a movie based on wars and that includes the Marvel and DC superhero action movies. To think of it, it might be because of the nausea that was induced by an action scene on screen that I began to hate the very idea of violence.
Cut to now.
I was sitting over an interview, getting coffee after a podcast we had done on India-Pakistan, when the trailer of Raazi popped up in my YouTube notification — I just couldn't wait a second to watch it. It starred Alia Bhatt, featured Kashmir and was directed by a woman who inherited the last name of my favourite Indian writer and poet, whose beautiful, moving works I have grown up consuming and loving.
I knew I had to watch this movie.
A part of me, the young girl who was taught by her father to say “Jai Hind” before namaste and “Salute” before shaking hands, was deeply moved by the patriotism and the extent one would go to for their country that the trailer was reflecting. A much older part of me, who refused to chime in with the slogans of wanting war simply because she was way too familiar with what the consequences are, was afraid. I was somewhere afraid that Raazi was going to be another movie which celebrated action and heroism on the battlefield.
India has never seen such a strong wave of ultra-nationalism since its independence as it is seeing now.
Back then, this emotion was against a common enemy — mostly, the white man calling the shots.
But this time, the enemy is vague, unknown, nebulous and more frightening for all that. Almost everyone has created one such 'enemy' of their own to hate — only to prove their love for the nation.
“Pakistan” is, of course, a common name for many in this context. But, despite the heated backdrop, Raazi is no Border. Additionally, Raazi is no Tiger Zinda Hai either, with a beautiful heroine doing macho action sequences.
Instead, I was glad to discover, Raazi is a movie that we needed to watch.
It is about a young girl my age. It is about a father and a daughter. And it is about doing what it takes to carry on a legacy based on sacrifices for a country, while trying to walk and balance on the very thin rope that delicately sits between being patriotic and humane.
I’m not a crier but I cried like I hadn't cried in a year, with my feet folded on a tiny movie theatre seat, tears smudging my face as I tried to hide the embarrassing snuffles of a 21-year-old grown woman. But I simply couldn’t stop crying as I could so deeply relate to the emotions shown on screen, of the conflict between trying to hold onto your humanity while in the heart of a war, knowing too well what it perpetuates, alongside the deep desire to carry on a legacy of serving the nation which your own father has left for you.
Presenting war — and peace — in all its challenges and complexities, Raazi didn’t sound one false note.
With this movie done so well, so tenderly and delicately by Meghna Gulzar, I think I can finally say that for many of us, the days of ultra-nationalism are over — or, at least I hope so.
Unlike any other movie before featuring war and real-life incidents, with the camera pointing towards the other side of the border, Meghna Gulzar opened our eyes to different perspectives on conflict and the armed forces on both sides of the border, the officers and spies doing their duty for their country and its people as they undertake incredibly heartbreaking tasks that none would have done otherwise, had it not been for their nations being at war, their fellow citizens so greatly threatened.
Raazi made me cry. But it also put my heart at ease.
The movie is as much about winning a war as it is about what one loses in a war. And that resonates deep within me.