I once watched a documentary on HIV and AIDS,
when it was starting to take center-stage on the world health agenda.
The documentary focused on the life (or death)
of a particular individual affected by the deadly virus. It went on to describe
in excruciating detail how the virus destroys the body’s immune system. It
provided microscopic detail on how the body became more and more vulnerable to
persistent attacks by foreign bodies, and how with each attack, the victim’s
body was slowly but surely heading towards imminent death. There was plenty of
emotional content – the parents described the aspirations of the particular
individual, attitude towards life and how he had been an outstanding individual
till the virus took over his body. The doctors described in vivid and graphic
detail how each of his bodily functions started failing him, and the impact of
each such failing. The documentary, began, and ended with the death of the
individual, who succumbed to the HIV. There were even some medical personnel
who commented that since he got affected by the virus due to his mistake, he
probably deserved it.
By the end of the hour long film, I felt sick
to the stomach. The film offered no hope. It threw no light on how the virus could
be contracted by an individual or how one can protect himself from contracting
the virus. It offered no insights into ongoing medical research or any treatments
that are being attempted at curing someone of this deadly virus. It had no
information or case studies of survivors. It simply gave an intricate account
of how the virus kills, and narrated in gruesome and graphic detail, the
heartbreaking death of a victim of this killer virus.
That is exactly how I felt after watching your documentary.
Your documentary offers no hope. What insight
did you expect by interviewing the rapist without even questioning to analyze
his core mindset? While it gave enough air time for the psychopath who
committed this heinous crime to justify his actions, it never even attempted to
understand what made his think that way. While it gave enough emphasis on the
details of how the girl was mutilated, it offered no significant information
into the changes in law that being debated and brought about following this
incident. While it does show how nasty a sick minded individual can get, given
an opportunity, it throws no light on the millions of people who are taking to
the streets and fighting for change. There are hundreds of individuals in India
who have been actively on the field studying rape, the victims, the offenders,
the judicial system and the support system for the victims, none of which has
found its way into your film. No analysis of causes, but extravagant
presentation of the crime – isn’t that slightly lopsided reporting?
To draw an analogy from the HIV documentary, it
is not the HIV or the destruction it causes to the body that defines life; life
is but the millions of other cells that are fighting for survival, to overcome
the cancerous cells affecting normal life. The surest sign of life is the urge
to fight and survive beyond all adversity. I do not deny that several such
viruses exist in our society, but I would like to bring to your notice that
once a body gets a disease, you do not discard it. You try to heal it. It is
the time when the body must be protected, nourished and supported, so that it
can fight on and survive the onslaught. That, I believe, is what is happening
in India. India has come alive, and is trying to address the issue. Nirbhaya’s death shall not go in vain.
I was surprised that you cleverly titled the
documentary as, ‘India’s daughter’. It would probably have been more suitable
if you had titled it, ‘A detailed study into the psychopathic mind of a rapist killer
accused in the Nirbhaya case’. The fact that you invested two years of your
life so far away from your family and home, in an alien nation, to create such a lopsided documentary
astounds me. As the saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword. You, as the
creator of this documentary, with the pen in hand, had the power to use it to
bring change, or to create chaos. What do you think you have done? Did you consider
yourself a reporter, or a movie maker while making this film? What was your
desired outcome? Did you consider the potential impacts and interpretations especially since you offered no insight?
Before you start labeling me as a nationalistic
jingoist, or accusing me of turning a blind eye to the nature of the crime, let
me clarify a few things.
- I am outraged at the nature of the crime and furious at the beasts that committed it.
- I do not think anything justifies the actions committed by those individuals on that fateful night.
- I want the highest punishment executed on these individuals so that it acts as a deterrent for anyone intending to commit such a crime in future.
- I do not think that your documentary must be banned. It must be broadcast along with a documentary showing the parts you missed out, the parts that I’ve mentioned in my previous paragraphs. It is important for three reasons
- Everyone in this country must learn to look at events from different perspectives – yours being one.
- Everyone in this country must be free to express their opinions without fear of retaliation.
- Everyone in this country must know what a poorly analyzed and biased documentary looks like, and how sensationalism often sells better than substance.
To conclude, thank you for making the documentary.
I hope that the star studded premiere went well. In my humble opinion, your documentary
is just opportunistic, exploitative and since it doesn't present the complete
picture, is also misleading. In short, a necessary evil.
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