{"id":1121,"date":"2016-03-18T18:58:56","date_gmt":"2016-03-18T18:58:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=1121"},"modified":"2026-07-17T13:59:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-17T13:59:43","slug":"salman-khan-tubelight-kabir-khan-bajrangi-bhaijaan-bollywood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=1121","title":{"rendered":"Kabir Khan\u2019s Sneaky Subversions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

K<\/span><\/p><\/div>

abir Khan\u2019s 2015 blockbuster <\/span>Bajrangi Bhaijaan<\/span><\/i>, was a career-defining film. The director used a Bollywood superstar as an actor and the India-Pakistan border as a muse to effectively capture the tensions between the two countries. Yet, the film\u2019s most politically charged moment does not take place at Wagah \u2013 it arrives wrapped unsuspectingly in the lyrics of the foot-tapping \u201c<\/span>The Chicken Song<\/span><\/a>,\u201d set in the bylanes of Old Delhi. Underneath its bumbling innocence that can be enjoyed at face value, lies a plucky statement on the dietary restrictions forcefully imposed on the citizens of this country, by the government.<\/span>\n\nThe lyrics of \u201cThe Chicken Song\u201d prefigured a debate that would go on to hijack national headlines for months: The taboo of consuming meat, the futility of food being a marker of nationalism, and the rising intolerance toward people who don\u2019t abide by the government\u2019s diktats. Only a couple of months later, the tragic <\/span>Dadri<\/span><\/a> lynching \u2013 where a 52-year old Muslim man was killed on suspicion of consuming beef \u2013 took place. <\/span>\n\nIt\u2019s an illusion Khan has used judiciously, time and again in his films that are nearly always mounted with a political context in the backdrop. The director\u2019s films routinely urge the audience to dig deeper. To some extent, the Dadri incident, and hordes of similar ones after, lent Khan the sort of political credence that remains elusive for most mainstream Bollywood filmmakers.<\/span>\n\n\"\"\n

\n

Tubelight, which is dismal on many levels, doesn’t fail on one count.<\/p>\n

Courtesy: Kabir Khan \/ Twitter<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nOscar-winning director, <\/span>Martin Scorsese<\/span><\/a>, once said, \u201cCinema is a matter of what\u2019s in the frame and what\u2019s out.\u201d According to him, a good film is always more than its framing and visuals; instead what makes it memorable are its hauntings and overtones. A cursory look at Kabir Khan\u2019s filmography, spanning 12 years, is an indication of how consistently he has followed Scorsese\u2019s words of wisdom. With every new project he has undertaken, two things have heightened: the scale and the political undertones in his films. The first fairly common in Bollywood \u2013 the second relatively uncommon, especially in conjunction with the first.<\/span>\n\nIn <\/span>Kabul Express<\/span><\/i>, loosely based on his experiences as a documentary filmmaker in Afghanistan, the director highlighted life under the Taliban regime. It caused such a stir that the movie was banned in Afghanistan. His next outing, <\/span>New York<\/span><\/i>, dealt with the political canvas of 9\/11 and its repercussions for American Muslims. His third, <\/span>Ek Tha Tiger<\/span><\/i>, the film which began his association with Salman Khan, made a statement about the futility of war. While <\/span>Phantom<\/span><\/i>, arguably his weakest film, remained tediously jingoistic, it was with the slightly subversive <\/span>Bajrangi Bhaijaan<\/span><\/i>, that Khan brought his political observations centre-stage. <\/span>\n\nKhan\u2019s strength lies in how he dials down these statements into relatable, understandable chunks. And he exploits it to the hilt in <\/span>Tubelight<\/span><\/i><\/a>,<\/span><\/i> which is dismal on many levels, but doesn\u2019t fail to impress on this one count. In his dutiful hands the character of Narayan (Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub) fittingly personifies the dangerously ignorant herd mentality so prevalent in the India of today. In the age of <\/span>lynch mobs<\/span><\/a>, Khan holds a mirror to our irrationals: People who killed 15-year-old <\/span>Junaid<\/span><\/a> or 52-year-old Akhlaq are all around us. They aren\u2019t always strangers; they can very well be people we\u2019ve grown up with. <\/span>\n\n\"kabir-khan-harshaali_640x480_61437486974\"\n

\n

For Kabir Khan, Bajrangi Bhaijaan was a career-defining film.<\/p>\n

Courtesy: SKF Youtube<\/p>\n<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\nHe pulls no punches on the burning national vs anti-national debate, the perception of what an Indian is supposed to look like, and the necessity of having to prove one\u2019s patriotism every step of the way. It\u2019s not every day that one comes across a Muslim filmmaker who has consciously adapted Bollywood\u2019s mainstream language and taken the industry\u2019s most saleable star, to make some very contentious statements \u2013 especially at a time when the country\u2019s political climate reeks of intolerance. Actually, it isn\u2019t every day that you come across any mainstream filmmaker choosing to hit out against the tyrannies of the ruling government through their films.<\/span>\n\nKabir Khan\u2019s brand of activism is unlike that of say, Arundhati Roy\u2019s. Her readers have complained that <\/span>The Ministry of Utmost Happiness<\/span><\/i> chooses to be completely bald about her agendas. Where Roy uses her platform like an outright soapbox, Khan uses it with judiciousness. Activism need not be shrill or soaked in outrage: It can be a nuanced response to injustice, and can take the form of compelling stories. Which is perhaps why, his villains are never people: They are systems and institutions and borders and mindsets. <\/span>\n\nFor a man born to mixed parents, and raising children of mixed faith, it is evident that the topic of secularism attains a mark of priority, as do the dangers of rising intolerance. According to him, religion is part of his heritage, but not something he follows in a ritualistic sort of way. Yet, it is his belonging to a faith that demands that he keep proving his loyalty to his country. By layering his films with astute political observations, Khan is proving his patriotism the only way he can: By doing his job and doing it well. <\/span>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If Tubelight and Bajrangi Bhaijaan are any indication, two things have heightened with every new Kabir Khan project: the scale of his movies and their political undertones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":1125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-people"],"yoast_head":"\nKabir Khan\u2019s Sneaky Subversions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If Tubelight and Bajrangi Bhaijaan are any indication, two things have heightened with every new Kabir Khan project: the scale of his movies and their political undertones.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.arre.co.in\/?p=1121\" \/>\n<meta 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