The Need for Constructive Journalism

I watched Taare Zameen Par a few days back. I am not going to try and write a formal review. It is a beautifully written, craftily directed film by Aamir Khan that touches upon some important issues faced by children today. Although it is a film centered on a dyslexic kid Ishaan, it is precisely not one about dyslexic kids.

Aamir Khan conveys the very important fact that children are very impressionable at a tender age and they should be cared after a lot of deliberation and caution. Kids, particularly kids in India are under extreme pressure right from their kindergarten to perform well. The rat race of which they become a part of sooner or later teaches them certain lowly values that seriously have a negative effect on their attitude towards life itself.

Mayil anna had pointed out in his previous post about the importance of teachers today and I totally concur with him. Good teachers are few and far between these days and the values and thoughts these young minds are exposed to at a tender age is totally contingent on the teachers handling them at a very young age. But I find most in this generation enamoured to the materialistic realm of things only and not many have a 'the life of the mind'. It is all about video games, cars, consumerized life style, the glitz and glamour of being a corporeal being, the flaunting of money etc.

And after feeling good about the fact that this film has addressed a much important issue, I was shocked to see some critics writing that this film had a number of fundamental flaws and it has fallen short on a number of areas. I beg to differ from them because I think this is heights of cynicism because these very critics give good reviews to a 'typical' Shahrukh commercial. ( I understand that the primary task of a critic is to be critical of anything and everything thrown at him)

Although some might argue that making films and being an actor is artistic in demeanor, it just doesn't end there. I am trying to make a point about sensible journalism. Aamir has made a admirable effort in trying to get us notice a very important issue that has pretty scary repercussions. Films are an amazingly potent medium to convey ideas that can change the way we think and improve the lives of our subalterns. But the problem is that sensible journalism is really rare and hard to find. People are more interested in absolute gossip than a million other issues that are throwing lives of innumerable lives in disarray. And the film medium particularly is so bloody corrupt with wrong values and priorities.

Coming to media in general, you find the paparazzi hassling the Beckhams and Shetty's for a snap. The media just doesn't care for thousands displaced due to the Sardar Sarovar Project. Recently, Arvind Kejriwal was awarded the Ramon Magsasay award for his stellar contribution to society. Here is a journalist that believes journalism should be all about a process of a larger constructive social change. Unlike our journalists "J" who believe they are doing a great job when they go get a snap with some mediocre cine star, this man has shown the way for propective journalists.

I patronize this film so strongly because it has been something which can give so many of us a vicarious experience and also illuminates us of one thing that is absolutely important for this country; Kids. I can only think of Kamalhassan and a few others who think they are viewing Films as an avenue for an artist who can make his ideas tell; And ideas need not be revolutionary. Even a mundane thought expressed in the right way can make a difference.