Kabir Khan is well-known for making commercial films which has a political voice to it. He has brought forth some important issues in films like Kabul Express, New York and others. Now, the director spoke with Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival in their special segment and spoke about the politics of filmmaking and why no one can shy away from a point of view.
Kabir shared some excerpts from the interview on his Instagram page about politics in cinema. In one of the excepts, the filmmaker said, “For me, simply put, politics is the way individuals in society look at each other, behave with each other, perceive each other. Those dynamics are what is politics, right? Being political doesn’t mean that you have to become an activist. Politics is a set of values, a set of messages, a set of viewpoints. Every single human being has a viewpoint. Nobody can say that they don’t.”
He also ripped apart the people who say they are apolitical. Kabir said, “When you say you’re apolitical, that itself is a viewpoint. If we were to look at contemporary times, we will hear a lot of noises that will be sexist, communal, Islamophobic, homophobic or classicist. So what are you saying by being apolitical? That you’re just going to hear this offensive material and not say anything? Then you’re not being neutral. Don’t say you’re apolitical because you’re quiet. Then you are actually perpetuating those bigoted ideas. It’s just a convenient thing.”
The director also spoke about how media manipulates and presents facts in a distorted way. He said, “There’s always a gap between the story that’s being sold to us and the story that should have been told to us grew on me. It has fascinated me for years. In retrospect, almost all my films lie in that gap.”
(Source: Instagram)
