Nov 12, 2016 08:53 PM
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A wider problem at this stage may be separating film from furore. The movie’s message is that Hindus and Muslims can happily coexist. The message its maker issued last week suggested that this may not in fact be possible in the India of 2016, which – even before the chemo kicks in – renders the film’s questing optimism tentative at best. You can’t entirely blame Johar, who has seen his glossy bauble kicked around as a political football, but his climbdown does feel like an acknowledgement of this project’s essential fragility; that, however polished its pieces and players, it stood no chance upon encountering harsh reality.
