dharmendra
The Indian filmstar Dharmendra died recently in Mumbai at the age of almost 90
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharmendra
The media is full about him and his life. He starred in several blockbuster films e.g. Sholay, and was known as the ‘He Man’ in Hindi cinema, having married the ‘Dream Girl’ Hema Malini.
How does one assess him ?
To answer this question one must understand that films are a form of art, and there are two theories about art and literature viz ‘Art for art’s sake’ and ‘Art for social purpose’, as explained in my article below :
http://justicekatju.blogspot.com/2012/02/role-of-art-literature-and-media.html
According to the first theory, art and literature are only meant to create beautiful or entertaining works to please and entertain people and artists themselves, and they are not meant to propagate social ideas. If art and literature is used for propagating social ideas it ceases to be art and becomes propaganda. Proponents of this view are Keats, Tennyson, Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot in English literature, Edgar Allan Poe in American literature, Agyeya and the ‘Reetikal’ and ‘Chayavadi’ Poets in Hindi literature, Jigar Moradabadi in Urdu literature and Tagore in Bengali literature.
The other theory is that art and literature should serve the people, and help them in their struggle for a better life, by arousing the people’s anger against social evils, oppression and injustice, and increasing their sensitivity regarding the people’s sufferings. Proponents of this school are Dickens and George Bernard Shaw in English literature, Walt Whitman, Mark Twain, Harriet Beacher Stowe, Upton Sinclair and John Steinbeck in American literature, Balzac, Stendhal, Flaubert and Victor Hugo in French, Goethe, Schiller and Erich Maria Remarque in German, Cervantes in Spanish, Tolstoy, Gogol, Dostoevsky and Gorki in Russian, Premchand and Kabir in Hindi, Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya and Kazi Nazrul Islam in Bengali, Nazir, Faiz, Josh and Manto in Urdu. and the bhaktikaal poets in Hindi literature.
Which of these two theories should be adopted and followed by artists and writers in India today?
In my opinion it can only be the second theory i.e. art for social purpose, as we have to wage a mighty historical people’s struggle against the great social, economic, and political evils prevalent in India today. Art for arts sake only amounts to escapism.
Films of Raj Kapoor and Satyajit Ray had social relevance, as explained in the video below :
But films starring Dev Anand, Shammi Kapoor, Rajesh Khanna, Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan etc have no social relevance. They are like drugs given to our poor people to relieve them of their misery for a couple of hours, transporting them into a world of make believe
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DPIxt8pE024
People went gaga over Shahrukh Khan’s film Pathaan, but I strongly criticised it as being just sensationalism and giving cheap thrills
Dharmendra’s films also fall in this category. They have no social relevance.
Some say that people need some entertainment too. That is true, but in poor countries it should be combined with social relevance.
It is true that films of James Bond, the Terminator, Jurassic Park, etc had no social relevance. But those films were made in rich, developed countries. On the other hand, in poor underdeveloped countries like India, having massive poverty, malnourishment, unemployment, price rise, lack of proper healthcare for the masses etc, films should combine entertainment with social relevance e.g. films of Raj Kapoor ( like Awaara, Shri 420, Boot Polish, Jagte Raho etc ), and many films of Satyajit Ray, Charlie Chaplin, Sergei Eisenstein, etc. These films too were entertaining and box office hits, though they had social relevance.
So the answer to the question whether films should have social relevance or not depends on whether the film is made mainly for people of developed countries, or of underdeveloped countries.
In poor, underdeveloped countries films made only for entertainment, and having no social relevance, are like opium or some other drug, which will take one into a world of make believe for a couple of hours, and are meant to divert people’s attention away from the real issues facing the nation, to non issues and trivialities.
The Roman Emperors used to say ” If you cannot give the people bread, give them circuses ”.
Today they would say ”If you cannot give the people bread, give them films of Dharmendra”
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