Transcript
BOB GARFIELD: This week, India and Pakistan, nuclear neighbors who have fought three wars in the last 50 years, will begin landmark peace talks. When the two countries' leaders, Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Pervez Musharraf, shook hands several weeks ago, it was the first time in two and a half years. Since that moment, both countries have been ablaze with talks of peace. Amid all the good feelings, one of India's top directors decided to release his much-anticipated film about a bloody skirmish between India and Pakistan. The film is called LOC which refers to the Line of Control between the two countries, and it is the biggest Bollywood war film ever. But it seems the timing couldn't have been worse: LOC is a total flop. From New Delhi, Miranda Kennedy takes a look. [AUDIO FROM FILM LOC] [WARLIKE SHOUTS AND MUSIC]
MIRANDA KENNEDY: When Pakistani soldiers sneaked across the Line of Control into India's territory five years ago, India retaliated with full force. The conflict was one of the worst in the bloody history of South Asia. Thousands of soldiers died fighting in the inhospitable Himalayan mountains of Kashmir, the territory claimed by both India and Pakistan.
SHUBRA GUPTA: That particular conflict was something that nobody really expected.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: Shubra Gupta is film critic for the Indian Express newspaper.
SHUBRA GUPTA: Which is why when it did happen, and so many lives were lost, there was this great upsurge of feeling against Pakistan, and I think a lot of signals were given from the establishment that now is the time to talk about Pakistan as the enemy.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: The Kargil conflict stirred up extreme emotions in India. Pakistan had done an enormous dishonor to its neighbor, crossed the international border, even while the countries were on good terms. Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf was army chief at the time, and India has always held him responsible for the intrusion. To this day, Musharraf denies that his troops crossed the international border.
SHUBRA GUPTA: And now, it's all different. In four years down the line, it's all let's make pacificatory noises; let's talk about peace. This is a feel-good time for both the countries.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: That may be one reason why Indian filmmaker J.P. Dutta's tribute to the war is a failure at the box office. Some say the film is jingoistic and irresponsible. Other critics call it anti-Muslim and worry that it will cause problems for India's 150 million Muslims. But others say it's just a bad movie. Tushar Dhingra is vice president of marketing for PVR Cinemas, India's most upmarket movie theater chain.
TUSHAR DHINGRA: The movie opened very well, because the expectation from the movie was huge. It was shot on a very big canvas, in terms of the production values, in terms of the star cast involved. It just tanked after that. It started tanking from Sunday onwards. I should not be saying it, in the profession I am in, but I couldn't sit through it. [AUDIO OF BATTLE SCENE FROM LOC]
MIRANDA KENNEDY: Hindi filmgoers are accustomed to long, melodramatic movies; but 4 hours of shooting and swearing proved a little much for most viewers. Director J.P. Dutta, who is refusing all interviews, did his best to faithfully recreate Kargil's month and a half of conflict, and at times it feels like the film lasts that long. [AUDIO OF SOLDIER'S SONG FROM LOC] Soldiers sing their way into battle in LOC, even at heights of 15,000 feet. Shyam Shroff was the film's biggest distributor in India. He lost big money on LOC, but he defends its 13 minute songs.
SHYAM SHROFF: Singing -- you can't take it out of the Indian movies, because otherwise it would be a major problem even for 3 hours for somebody to inside. There has to be songs. [SONG UP AND UNDER]
MIRANDA KENNEDY: But if LOC fulfills some of the criteria of the Bollywood formula by having songs and stars, it breaks the mold in many other ways. Of the film's dozen or so heroes, ten of them die. Killing off the heroes doesn't usually go down well with audiences in India, where fans have built temples to movie stars and heroes are expected to win against all odds, even if the setting is war. But unlike Hollywood, the Hindi film industry doesn't have much of a track record in war movies. Sanyam Mishra, a teacher and avid filmgoer, believes this kind of "pop patriotic film" simply doesn't have a niche in India.
SANYAM MISHRA: Our Hindi movies are called masala movies --they contain everything -- action, passion, romance - all in one. But if it is just war, war and war, it doesn't always give you a guarantee of success. He tried to be very truthful, and that is the problem at the box office.
MIRANDA KENNEDY: Pakistan's foreign minister recently said that films like LOC "should not be made and people should not patronize them." The film is certainly not available in Pakistani theaters. In fact, anyone selling or showing copies of the film in Pakistan is liable to be arrested, and from the way it's being received, it doesn't look like LOC will be seen in Indian theaters much longer either. LOC's washout might just bring a new trend to Hindi cinema: films that root for peace between the nuclear neighbors. [MUSIC UP & UNDER] For On the Media, I'm Miranda Kennedy in New Delhi. [MUSIC]
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