'... Ram will run away from there'

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">MUMBAI: Chandraprakash Dwivedi’s <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">Pinjar </span>is a mainstream film on Partition, that boasts Bollywood stars like Urmila Matondkar, Manoj Bajpai and Sanjay Suri, superb songs and high-protein dances. Significantly, it has a Ram and a Rashid embrace warmly, and its deeply moving climax emphasises compassion and forgiveness over communal hatred.<br /><br />Quite a surprise, considering that the director is an emphatic RSS ideologue. If one was moved by ‘Pinjar’s’ plea for secularism — despite reservations about its skewed depiction of Partition — meeting Dr Dwivedi confirms your suspicion that he’s an unrepentant mandir-wahin-banayenge sort. You can’t help feeling you would have thought the better of him if you’d never met him.<br /><br />Dr Dwivedi isn’t your garden variety Hindutva rabble rouser. Former head of programming of Zee TV, he directed the TV serials ‘Chanakya’, ‘Mrityunjay’ and ‘Ek Aur Mahabharat’. A buddy of L.K. Advani (who, it is reported, has asked him to make a film on the Somnath temple), he is a scholar who lectures on ‘Sanskrit and Creativity’ and related subjects. An engaging raconteur, he’s given to weaselling out of uncomfortable questions by responding with mythological fables. His intelligence is sabre- sharp, yet he lapses into roiling contradictions on cross-questioning.<br /><br />Originally from Rajasthan, Dr Dwivedi wasn’t directly affected by Partition, but was moved by Amrita Pritam’s novel of the same name. Although the film can claim credit for a villain with grey shades, the overriding impression is one of Muslims as abductors and Hindus as victims, whereas Partition distributed its villains more evenly. However, Dr Dwivedi insists, “My film is not political..But Manoj Bajpai’s character Rashid will decide the fate of Muslim thinking in India more than Urmila’s Puro.’’<br /><br />Asked for his views on Ayodhya, he says, “I felt bad when the Babri Masjid fell.’’ A moment later, he declares, “But we must build a Ram temple in Ayodhya. It’s a national monument to a national hero. If the Muslims expect us to accept Akbar as a national hero, why won’t they accept Ram as a national hero? Ayodhya is not a question of our site, but our psyche. I’d love to make a film on Ayodhya.’’<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"><br />But doesn’t Ram live everywhere, we pester him. “Even if we build the temple in Ayodhya, Ram himself will not stay there.<br /><br />‘Woh unke atma ke khilaf hogi, Ram wahan se bhag jayenge’ (Ram will run away from there),’’ he concedes. A moment later, he has switched again, “Every year people will keep seeing footage of the destruction of the Babri Masjid on December 6 on TV, so I would really like to make a film on the Somnath temple showing how it was destroyed by Muslims.’’<br /><br />Asked to explain why is he determined to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya, when he knows Ram won’t live in it, he responds, “We have to stand up for our principles.We have to finish Ram’s unfinished work. If we don’t, who will fight his battles? If we retract now, we will lose a historic battle.’’<br /><br />When we suggest that it might just be a nicer idea to devise strategies to tackle poverty and unemployment, than build a temple, Dr Dwivedi dismisses the suggestion.<br /><br />“If Muslims accept our history, there will be no problems. Everything will be solved,’’ he declares, with the peremptory air of one who knows.<br /><br /></div> </div><div class="section3"><div class="Normal"><br />We are a little concerned that the RSS may feel betrayed by ‘Pinjar’s’ apparently secular message, but Dr Dwivedi remains unperturbed. “No, I know them well. They are all social thinkers who work for a better society. Unlike the Muslim leaders,’’ he says.<br /><br />As we leave, he salutes us with the impish provocation, “Agle dafa Ayodhya (next time Ayodhya),’’ adding, “Ayodhya means a-yudh-ya, a place of no war.’’ You’re still waiting for his penny to drop.</div> </div>