
Is Haider (the movie) a test of nationalism?
Me: “Did you watch Haider? It is a good movie.”
A family member: “No, I didn’t. I heard it is an anti-national movie.”
I was shocked by the response! This wasn’t one of those hate-mongering, ultra-nationalists people in abundance in India these days; this was a sober, soft-spoken, family member who genuinely believed what he said.
When the movie Haider released, I wanted to watch it because I wanted to see how well Vishal Bhardwaj did the Hamlet adaptation. When I read about it being ‘sympathetic’ to Muslims and critical of Army, I dismissed it as a fiction created by media for some masala, and still wanted to watch it. When I did watch it, Continue reading “Is Haider (the movie) a test of nationalism?”