MUMBAI – Bollywood Star Tiger Shroff’s latest “action movie” *Baaghi 2* hashit a new low which highlights the Indian Army humiliation and ridiculingthe Kashmiri youth as ideal.
In an exceptional display of callousness, this new Sajid Nadiadwala filmdecided to address an issue that has continued to be contentious sinceApril 2017, when Farooq Ahmad Dar, an innocent Kashmiri voter, was forciblyused as a human shield by Major Nitin Leetul Gogoi of the 53rd RashtriyaRifles to deter stone pelters.
On April 9, 2017, Dar, a Kashmiri shawl-maker, had left home along with hiscousin after casting his vote to attend the funeral procession of arelative in Gaumpora. Upon reaching Utilgam — a nearby village — they werestopped by Major Gogoi and Dar was tied to the front bumper of the Armyjeep as it patrolled villages, and used as a human shield againststone-throwing crowds.
It was a human rights violation and shocked the world. The Army, of course,went ahead and honoured Gogoi with the Army chief’s Commendation Card for”sustained efforts” in counter-insurgency operations.
Art imitates life, and how.
In *Baaghi 2*, Army officer Ranveer Pratap Singh (played by Tiger Shroff)is seen using a man in Kashmir (possibly a militant or a stone pelter) as ahuman shield, tying him to the hood of his jeep to protect himself from anangry crowd. Film critic Raja Sen, in his review, writes: “It is the kindof thing I expected Hindi cinema to tackle at some point, but not in aTiger Shroff film where his reasoning for this inhumanity is that somebodyburned the Indian flag.”
A lot cannot be expected of a film industry that still uses tropes likecasual (and sometimes not-so-casual) misogyny, homophobia and transphobiaas crutches to drive films. In Bollywood, movie producers bank onstars instead of a coherent storyline to sell cinema.
Pakistan-bashing, hypernationalism and vein-popping bursts of patriotismare fixtures in Army films in the Hindi film industry. But even forBollywood, this moment feels like a new low.