Why is Wagah a highly condemnable film?

A Visitor Column by Sai Shyam G

When many Tamil filmmakers are breaking the geographical and cultural barriers, and making us proud in the global arena, director GNR Kumaravelan has come up with a condemnable film - Wagah. I call the film condemnable because the director takes singular and irrational sides, showing Pakistanis in bad light from the word go. I am also wondering how this film would be received by Pakistanis if they watch it and what would they make out of us. When you judge a person, aren't you actually making that person judge you?

I am perfectly fine with the filmmakers’ liberty to make their own films and I don’t think anyone has the right to dictate how a story should be told. However, in Wagah, the director has no conviction whatsoever when he does moral name-calling against Pakistanis. The basic objective of the film is to show Pakistanis, especially their army officers, as sadists and heartless creatures. Sample this dialogue from an Indian army officer – “Karunai kaata avanga enna Indians eh? Pakistanis da!” Another disturbing and glorified aspect is that a chief Pakistani army officer’s only job is to torture Indian soldiers and behead them. When the director could have come up with an engaging film involving India-Pakistan issues and the emotions involved, all he decides to do is make his characters speak, speak and speak more glorifying dialogues about India and belittling dialogues about Pakistan.

Well, at least has the director done justice to the character of a so-called noble Indian army officer, played by Vikram Prabhu? Sadly, no! He joins Indian army after the intro ‘karuthu’ song - ‘Aaniye Pudunga venam da,’ because he can booze at a cheaper price. But, after joining the army, he doesn’t quite like the job and decides to quit. Just then, he comes across the leading lady, Ranya Rao, a lookalike of Hansika, and decides to continue in the army to stay in touch with her. In a particular scene, this army officer, who is madly in love, runs without his trousers during a mock drill. And, towards the climax, he even says “BSF officer-na naatu-kaga dhan saaganuma, naan oruthan love-kaga saagaran, enna ippo?” With scenes and dialogues like these, did the team assume that this film would be a tribute to the Indian army by releasing it during the Independence Day weekend?

Be it the love sequences or the fight sequences, nothing really strikes a chord with the audience in the film. Even though we are informed during the beginning of the film that all the characters in the film will be speaking in Tamil, somehow most characters turn out to be artificial and funny when they speak in Tamil. The lead pair escapes from hundreds of bullets and even few mini missiles in the climax, thanks to the age-old logic prevailing in Tamil cinema. The background score is nothing to rave about as the entire second half is filled with an endless loop of loud beats. If the team’s intention was to give the viewers a patriotic rush with the ‘Vande Mataram’ soundtrack during the climax, they are nowhere near it. In fact, the audiences were laughing out loud, seeing Vikram Prabhu's animated fight with hundreds of Pakistani army officers and the way he dodges thousands of bullets.

I would like to humbly request the filmmakers to spread positivity through their films. If at all they want to take up a hard-hitting subject and showcase a negative/sensitive aspect, they should first have conviction and reasoning behind their plots. I don’t think it is a healthy sign if they merely retort to name-calling against a particular country/group and spread hatred against them, assuming that it would glorify us.

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