Bollywood has always reflected the times. When our Indian films started talking, almost all the films that were made had their source in the freedom struggle or drew inspiration from our religious texts and history books.

Films like Sampurna Ramayana, Mahasati Anasuya, Ram Rajya, Krishnaleela and the like were devotional ones, which along with the lives of actual saints like Narsinh Bhagat, Bhakt Kabir, Meera, etc, were made mandatorily. But others, sourcing from the history of India, like Jhansi ki Rani, captured people’s imagination too.

In the late thirties and forties, films were mostly based on the freedom struggle. They reflected the reality of the times and whetted the appetite of the youth to join the freedom struggle, which they did in the absence of job opportunities. India, during those times, was in its infancy as far as business opportunities were concerned. The focus was to heave the British out of the country and the youth came united for this. Perhaps there is a lesson to be learnt today from the films of those times. When a direction is offered to the youth of a country, they grab it and goes for it full steam.

Today, in the absence of a focus, the world has become a fertile ground for terrorism. And the cinema trade made patriotic films like Roja, Mission Kashmir etc to deal with terrorism. Both pre-partition, post-partition and during the struggle against the British Raj, Indian films abound in patriotism. Films like Kismet and others from New Theatres had the same root. All of these did tremendous business. Even films that were not overtly patriotic had the background of the freedom struggle, because that was the reality in India then and it never failed to evoke a response from the audiences.

As the fervour of the independence struggle faded, Bollywood slowly moved to give way to lighter subjects, romances, and family dramas in the late fifties and sixties. And, a stray film or two came from the loyal 'Bharat' Manoj Kumar and Chetan Anand, both of whom have gave us beauties like Shaheed, Haqeeqat, Hindustan ki kasam, Purab aur paschim, Kranti, Upkar and the like.

By the seventies, freedom and struggle faded away from the minds of the new generation. And the 80s’ films reflected the paucity of substance in our films. There was nothing to engage our attention in real life except frivolities. The films reflected this frivolousness. Even during this time a stray film like a Jai Santoshi Maa or a Border could still evoke sentiments that everyone identified with.

But our patriotism was becoming thinned with the passing generations. The newer generations who had no kind of bond with the freedom movement -- who only knew that the Gulf had opened up and life was tax free and oil rich -- were removed from the whiff of patriotism as they had moved into the "bigger" world to earn their millions. These formed the NRI cache of Indians and were the new romantic Hindustanis whose patriotism stirred up only in moments of nostalgia.

Another lot of patriotic films were churned out this time in a market savvy atmosphere, targeted solely to touch the frivolous hearts in their leisure hours. So we had films like Refugee, instead of Kabuliwalla or Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, where the anthems of the country are sung at the drop of a hat or a K3G where the National Anthem is targeted at the non-resident Indian!

A generation which, when it wants to be patriotic, wears designer kurta pyjama instead of Levis Jeans and Reebok shoes, gives us this nouveau-riche patriotism. This generation could only portray patriotism as it is being portrayed today. The recent spate of celluloid Bhagat Singhs seemed more an opportunity to cash in on the after math of the Kargil conflict than anything else. There was patriotism of a kind in a film like Lagaan, or a Mission Kashmir, but a highly romanticised one at that.

After the success of films like Border and Lagaan, a new trend is being triggered in Bollywood where scriptwriters are again delving into history books for new ideas. Films like Richard Attenborough's Gandhi or Deepa Mehta's Earth highlighted the poignancy of the Indian freedom movement and showed our filmmakers how much material we had within our reach to make even a commercial Hindi film from our archival historical material. So we are to see a film soon on Mangal Pandey from Ketan Mehta who earlier gave us Sardar. But Mehta comes from a family of freedom fighters and his sensibilities express his involvement with the country.

In today’s ambience, Bollywood is returning to patriotism more out of a need for newer subjects rather than any interest in archiving our rich history or spreading values that made India and sustained it's traditions. Romances have stopped touching a chord in audiences hearts. So filmmakers feel that patriotic films stand a better chance to record success. The interest is purely commercial.

We've had romanticised versions of patriotism earlier too. Films like Leader, Awaara (which highlighted post-independence decadency) and most of Raj Kapoor's social films offered us a patriotic view of India (Jis desh mein ganga behti hai). But today's patritotism is frothy and superficial and hidden by many layers of commercial targets.

In the earlier era, everything reflected the patriotic fervour -- the music, the songs, the lyrics and the performances and the story. Lyricists like Kavi Pradeep gave us such stupendous numbers that they're played like 'bhajans' on every Independence Day and Republic Day. Songs like Keshava Nit Shyam Sarupa Jai Jagadish Hare from Anand Math or Ai Mere Watan Ke Logon written solely for the soldiers at the border or De Di Hamein Azaadi Bina Khadga Bina Dhaal which paid tribute to Gandhiji's struggle or Jaane Wale Sipahi Se Pooch Who Kahan Ja Raha Hai are examples.

But each decade, each era reflects the need of the hour. Today's films are beginning to see the need for a more solid base than the last three decades have given. The freedom struggle, per se, cannot sell today. This generation has had nothing to do with it, but rather crudely jingoistic manifestations of patriotism hit us in the face time and again. Last year’s biggest hit -- Gadar -- couldn't have been louder than it was. These type of flicks are chauvinistic versions of the filmmakers’ interpretations of history. The pegs are flimsy, and are by far too many. The recent spate of Bhagat Singhs proved that.

Anything that is so in-your-face is made with the intent of tweaking your emotions in whichever way possible and such manipulation only serves to repel. It is left to the filmmaker to sensitise himself to such subjects that are relevant to the entire country and that are seen globally today.

Lata Khubchandani
India Syndicate