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Kitsch for a cause

The Catholic Church makes history with a commercial Hindi film. RANA SIDDIQUI speaks to its executive producer, Father Dominic Emmanuel

SOME TITILLATION A scene from "Aisa Kyon Hota Hai"

They say what you risk is what you value. If you take a risk, you lead by example. An example that others follow. And Father Dominic Emmanuel, SVD of the Catholic Church has just taken a brave step by risking what he values: his own reputation as the Director of Communications/Information Bureau of the Delhi Catholic Archdiocese. He has a ventured into making a commercial Hindi film with all the ingredients to pull in the young crowd, but with a message. The film aims to raise awareness of AIDS/HIV and communal polarisation. He has made history with his debut film titled Aisa Kyon Hota Hai. The film, released this Friday, features Aryan Vaid, Megha Chatterjee, Rati Agnihotri, Johnny Lever and others. While Father Dominic is the executive producer, the director is Ajay Kanchan, who has made 25 documentaries earlier.

The film has lots of tantalising elements like rain songs, item numbers and intimate scenes, besides ragging on the campus in the first half, though the serious message follows in the second half. It has received lukewarm response. Because of the nature of the film, it has also faced criticism from within the church circles too.

Says the Father, who has been hosting a television programme, Voice of Christianity on Jain TV for the past four years, "The Church has been in the communication business from the very beginning through books, articles, videos and audios, etc. Filmmaking is also a form of communication. I myself have been journalist and a broadcaster for many years. I put in all those ingredients to attract the young crowd. The message is for them, otherwise we would have been talking to ourselves only. Moreover, we took guidance from Mahesh Bhatt who told us that we should avoid preaching. He was assured of our confidence to handle the film on our own. So he left it to us."

Resentments, naturally

It goes without saying that there was resentment from within and outside the church for the film's treatment, which dilutes the message.

"They asked me why I used so many songs and item numbers. They said I didn't need to go to that extent to spread a message. But from my PhD in Dialogue I have learnt one thing, that unless you translate a message into a dialogue, it becomes either sermonising or a monologue. And I didn't want to do that. See that the film reels out lots of emotional messages. It tells you that those first chilled in love close themselves to love and they start hurting others to hide their pain. The heroine in love who sings and dances in the rain refuses to share her bed with her boyfriend. She says, `Love doesn't mean I have to surrender my body also.' There are many such ideas conveyed through the film," argues the priest, who has made two telefilms earlier, which were aired on Doordarshan and Zee TV.

Father Dominic is not remorseful about taking Kanchan as a director, whose weak direction shows. "Yes, he is a first-timer but there are always first-time filmmakers."

In this film for a cause that is made on a modest budget of two-and-a-half crore rupees, many actors and technicians worked for free or charged very little. For instance, Johnny Lever, who plays a sardar and a monk, didn't charge any money. And technicians charged "very little".

Whatever is the fate of the film at the box office, sometimes, ends are more important than the means. The Church by going to Bollywood has opened the doors for many to come forward for a cause. And seeing many coming out of the hall with "tears in their eyes", receiving the Archbishop's congratulations for "communicating the message successfully, which drowns out other elements in the film," for this versatile priest, is the reward for his laudable effort. "I am not bothered about its commercials. For me the message to the youth was more important than the money," he concludes, beaming.

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