/ARTS WEEKLY/FILM: Movie Queen’s Kiss and Tell Episode Rocks Pakistan

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Zofeen T. Ebrahim

KARACHI, Pakistan, Mar 8 2005 (IPS) - Is it really just ”a storm in a tea-cup” and a ”non-issue” that some people seem so ready to dismiss? Why such a hue and cry, after Meera – known as the ‘queen of Pakistan cinema’ – locked lips with her Indian co-star?

Does it really boil down to religion or as someone put it a ”cultural baggage” that Pakistani moviegoers carry. Ironically, Pakistanis watch foreign movies with baring-daring scenes without batting an eyelid. Nonetheless when a Pakistani actress enacts the same scene, all hell breaks loose.

Will Meera, Pakistani tinsel town’s number one sultry siren, who caused all the brouhaha by kissing, her co-star Ashmit Patel, in an Indian film ‘Nazar’ pay a heavy price for that lone kiss? Will all the other Pakistani actors have to bear the government’s wrath for her acting ”against Islamic ethics and moral values?”

And while the Meera episode is still hot, ask others – why have they never protested to the vulgar fare churned out by the film industry in general and all the conceivable explicit scenes Meera has enacted in Pakistan all these years in particular?

”Given her lack of reputation at home, we should not worry too much about her lack of ethics in Bollywood,” shoots Aijaz Gul, a film critic, cinema analyst and film exhibitor.

However, there are others like Hasan Zaidi, a young Pakistani filmmaker who feels otherwise.

Pointing fingers at a ”culture of hypocrisy” that has permeated Pakistan, he says: ”We all know all kinds of things happen in our society but we are loathe to see them depicted either on screen or in literature.”

”Our men would like ‘our’ women to at least pretend to be virtuous even as they enjoy themselves elsewhere,” adds Zaidi. ”But in this particular case, I don’t even think kissing was the issue – this was a purely manufactured media circus with ulterior motives.”

According to Zaidi, there have been kissing scenes before in Pakistani films that have been cut out by the censor board. ”And if you have ever seen a Pushto film (regional language), there is a lot worse going on sometimes.”

Local media reports indicate Pakistan’s ministry of culture has decided to take action by imposing a heavy fine on the actress because of her ”bold scenes”.

Stumped by the reaction, Meera – who is still in India with rumours that she plans to stay on – is reported to have said that all she wanted was to ”bring the two countries together”.

”If I have kissed Ashmit, it’s like Pakistan kissing India. If I have hugged him, it’s as if every Pakistani has hugged every Indian. I don’t understand why there’s so much hue and cry. I am here as an ambassador of peace and whatever I am doing is part of the process of building bridges.”

”Haven’t these people kissed anyone in their lives?” asks an equally nonplussed Patel, who shared the kiss with Meera, which he incidentally calls a ”peck on the cheek” and ”not even a proper kiss”.

Mahesh Bhatt, the writer and co-producer of ‘Nazar’ terms the whole thing ”childish and quite ridiculous”.

”This is the first India-Pakistan film that also dares to cement relations between the two countries. Hence, it would be tragic if anyone would want to spoil this relationship,” he says.

But in no mood to stir the hornet’s nest as he also has plans for a launch in Pakistan, he adds: ”Anything that upsets their (Pakistan’s) sensibilities, I wouldn’t be a party to. I didn’t know there would be so much of hullabaloo that has prompted me to write to the Pakistan president.”

The recent thaw in relations between Pakistan and India has seen many Indian Bollywood stars visit their neighbouring country to interact with local actors.

This camaraderie has often helped generate funds for the underprivileged, the most recent being aid for the Asian tsunami victims. Various co-productions, star-studded events and concerts – unthinkable a couple of years back – have now become common. Adding to that is a growing population of Indian soap opera addicts on this side of the border.

”I think this whole issue is nothing but a storm in a tea cup,” points out Hoori Noorani, an avid cinemagoer and a leading publisher.

”The so called ‘defenders of our culture’ use Islam and terms such as ‘moral values’ when it is convenient for them. The film is yet to be released and it isn’t fair to comment on it,” she tells IPS.

However, Noorani adds: ”Mahesh Bhatt’s recent films do have a lot of steamy sex scenes (like ‘Murder’) but these movies are meant for an adult audience.”

”The critics of Meera’s ‘scenes’ should take a look at what is shown in our films to titillate the mainly uneducated audience that goes to see them.”

Saquib Malik, one of the most sought after song-video makers in Pakistan agrees with Noorani.

”This big hue and cry is quite uncalled for. She’s done far more explicit and vulgar scenes on our silver screen and nobody has ever objected,” reveals Malik.

Seeing the issue as a cinematographer, he explains that the video song clips shown to Pakistani viewers on a private channel were ”sensuous and provocative with rain, a fair amount of cleavage and very physical – stuff she’s being doing even in our films. But we have to admit these were very well choreographed.”

To the argument in Pakistan that she was in the arms of a Hindu, Saqib says it is ”trite and ridiculous”. He dismisses the comments as ”reactionary and narrow-minded”.

”We have to give her credit for being the first Pakistani to have been cast as a heroine and that too in Mahesh Bhatt’s film. That counts for something for he’s a force to reckon with,” says Saquib adding, ”even in Bollywood actors want to work for MB. It was a good opportunity and she took it. I’d strongly support Meera.”

Actress Zara Sheikh, while refusing to comment on the Meera issue for fear of offending either the star or the government, agrees with Malik. ”She’s set a precedent and we should give her due credit for having acted in a Bollywood movie and that too, in a lead role.”

Part of the fault of the Pakistani public in not being able to digest such steamy scenes, according to Zara, is ”because our film industry has made movies that are so far removed from reality with an overdose of lush green fields and dancing around trees.” ”People cannot accept the private scenes on big screen.”