Netflix’s Mission Majnu manifests our still strong obsession over Bollywood and the latter’s ever-increasing obsession over us Pakistanis.
Deep within the thriving with life skyscrapers of Mumbai, there must have been a gathering in a dim lights room. 3- 4 people, including the film director Shantanu Bagchi are present.
Mr. Shantanu has directed a number of films and has consulted with multiple film writers. WRONG!
He hasn’t, in fact he’s about to make his first major Hindi film project. But he needs to be memorable and come out in the big leagues with Yash Raj and Karan Johar productions.
But how? Mr. Shantanu is perplexed as he discusses this with his writers.
He is so stressed in this lust that he starts having wine and transforms from Mr. Shantanu to Mr. Shantu.
He figures out this dirty trick of vilifying Pakistan in order to gain fame and fortune. After all, this has been the go-to option for many Bollywood elites when they fail to come up with a genuine movie storyline.
He takes a notebook and starts brainstorming with his writers.
“What Pakistanis look like? He and his writers fail to generate a modern Pakistani image and instead they prefer sticking with the faulty stereotypes”
Surma, Check, Shalwar Kameez, Check, Adaab and Jinaab ….. Check.
“And what else? What else makes Pakistanis triggered? They are loving us Indians too much these days. It needs to be someone else,
Oh , The Israelis ! Ahaa! Check”
Vola! We have it! It is time to make the movie”
As much as the above story sounds ridiculous, it somehow confronts me and many other Pakistanis to the fact that how a certain group of Bollywood people are up to when they try to create a movie involving Pakistanis nowadays.
Somewhere in the bustling city of Rawalpindi is Tariq Hussain (Siddhart Malhotra). He’s an adept Darzi (Tailor) and an adept spy working for India’s RAW intelligence agency.
He doesn’t hate Pakistan, but has to prove his allegiance to his nation, less because he is an intelligence officer and more because his father failed to prove one. His real name, by the way, is Amandeep Ajitpal Singh.
His enthusiasm slides into multiple phases of toxic attachment to this cause of proving an Indian patriot that he even attempts to marry a local Pakistani girl Nasreen (played by Rashmika Mandanna) who’s blind and is one of his acts of cover.
View this post on Instagram
However, later we get to see genuine love brewing between the two.
He has this mission of finding the hidden nuclear facility of Pakistan and neutralize it.
After watching this movie, I ask myself this question? How much Bollywood is attached to vilifying Pakistanis? And even if they really are, how atrocious they have been in emulating us, our surroundings, our culture.
What’s even sillier is that these Bollywood folks can meticulously create uncannily exact characters of centuries-old medieval kings but miserably fail to create a character of a literal next-door Muslim neighbor.
In Pakistan, Mission Majnu has become a subject of pure ridicule and humor. People have made dozens of memes and have criticized for wrongfully portraying Pakistanis along with the compulsion to downgrade them.
*first day of an Indian spy in Pakistan*
The spy, wearing kajal , a skull cap, checkered scarf in his neck, says “adaab.. kidhar jaa rahe hain janab”
*gets caught* pic.twitter.com/jZ1n2vWneg
— sherry (@CherieDamour_) January 10, 2023
I personally believe despite the love which the Hindi film industry often shows towards Pakistanis, attempts like these are the biggest walls of any prospect for normalization between India and Pakistan.
Not only do movies like these mispresent Pakistanis, they also reach the masses and create in them an image that the other side is the real villain and someone who you never would want to mingle with or show respect towards.
So, what was actually the reason behind the topic of Mission Majnu?
It’s hard to say but in my opinion, movies like these have been produced multiple times to trigger the Indian masses. Such attempts from these directors and producers is a way of displaying their allegiance with the ruling right wing parties. And the best way probably is to cash on this 70-year+ rivalry.
It was the movie Raazi featuring Alia Bhatt, a previous movie of Siddhart Malhotra Shershaa, and many more which were based on negatively depicting Pakistanis.
With media being the number one medium of driving millions of minds. Movies like these tend to stop from the spreading of peace and foster resentment.
And to create such content for sake of exploiting millions in revenue is no less than a selfish act by the ones who produce and direct it.
It’s offending and toxic for the sub-continent.
Dam this was supposed to be a movie review. I am not surprised it turned out to be a bit political.
Mission Majnu is streaming on Netflix Pakistan. It’s kind of a family movie requiring noting, but the gut to swallow the disappointment while watching it.
