Artistic Poverty and #FreeHinduTemples; a cry for a new form of art

Nitesh Tiwari hypothetical poster for Ramayan starring Ranbir Kapoor

Recently, there has been a surge in movies related to “Dharmic” topics. These movies are mostly revolving around Ramayana, after the consecration of the centuries old Ram Janmabhoomi temple in Ayodhya. Many fans have been excited for these movies, only to reject them later on. Most people dislike the casting in these movies as well, and the outfits that are chosen.

Ranbir Kapoor smoking a cigarette in Animal. He is smoking almost throughout the movie. His other character Aziz also is shown as a smoker. How will Ranbir Kapoor manage his scenes as Aziz in Animal Park after he quits smoking for Ramayan; assuming he does?

Gone are the days when Arun Govil played Ram in Ramayan and quit smoking; the “Ram” of today was a “big beef guy” ten years ago.

12 year old interview of Ranbir Kapoor trying to be edgy.

While I am personally of the opinion that people can change through faith and its application in daily life, this frustration is perfectly understandable. The most degenerate of people seem to be landing the most spiritual roles just because there is a trend.

Anjali Arora, who may be playing the role of Maa Sita in Nitesh Tiwari’s Ramayan, alongside Ranbir Kapoor

These people miss the point of Arun Govil’s Ramayan; which came out when the Ram Janmabhoomi was aspirational, unlike today where the temple is complete and open to devotees (maybe these “cash grabbers” should be focusing on Shiva or Krishna, i.e. Kashi or Mathura, for pious shows which will attract the same viewers and devotion as Arun Govil’s Ramayan did).

But it is easy to understand the frustration of the people of Bharat. On one hand, after 500 years their “superior man” i.e. Purushottam’s temple is returning, and on the other hand people literally “Animal” in nature are depicting this superior man free of the vices the world offers him.

Adipurush, a crass movie about Ram ji’s life. While many crass subaltern Ramayan’s exist, this one brought that to the mainstream, and was not recieved well. It lacked the self awareness to make a good “subaltern” Ramayan, and was more inspired by superhero movies. It could still possibly fall under “subaltern” ramayan category, but then it has to be judged as a movie independent of that label as well.

So is Ramayan just a movie for Ranbir Kapoor? Or will he really have the ability to never touch meat or alcohol again in his life after he plays Ram once?
Why did Adipurush depict our deities in leather armour and in romantic scenes?
Are the people writing, directing and in general those who are behind these movies, are they really devotees of Ram?

It is important to understand that many in the old elite see Ramayan as separate for devotees and for the “intellectuals”. The “intellectual” has an inability to discriminate between what is right and what is wrong. A person who knows nothing about Ram, not even his name, yet who bows in front of his presence, is more of a devotee than someone who has read several papers, of fact and of fiction, about Ram and takes all of it to be true.

An example of this in modern times may be Kendrick Lamar’s song “How Much A Dollar Costs?”. The song retells a prable of Lazarus, but from a “modern” lens. Writing and performing this song does not make Kendrick “less Christian”, but a person who hears this song and says “the parable of Lazarus was at a petrol pump and it had alcohol brUUUHhHh” or assumes that the Christian God is alcoholic, is clearly not Christian.
The same distinction can be applied to those who perform a subaltern Ramayana, and those who believe it to be as true as Valmiki’s Ramayan. And this is why someone who doesn’t know a thing about Ram but bows their head to him is wiser than a person who has read several forms of the Ramayan and believes in them all indiscriminately and at face value.

This phenomenon is not entirely limited to the Ramayan alone. It is also in movies like Brahmastra, which tries to cash in on the rapidly rising Indic comic book market of the country. (I could only find this and this online, but my memory of Comic Con in 2023 is sharp with several “dharmic-oriented” comics which are not strictly stories of the Gods, but merely based in their universe, and much more respectful of the spiritual lore of our civilization).

Brahmastra, movie which was unable to get the pronounciation of “astra” right.

On top of ALL OF THIS, there is also Dev Patel’s upcoming Monkey Man, which has been delayed in Bharat for unknown reasons, despite telling yet another dharm-inspired story.

Poster for Monkey Man, a story about a wrestler who gets his power from Hanuman ji.

Hanu-Man, a superhero story where the hero gets his powers from Hanuman ji

This is sad and ironic both, as there was yet ANOTHER movie “Hanu-Man” which also had a similar premise (yet a very very different story).

So we can clearly see a trend here. There is clearly a demand for more dharmic movies, genuine dharmic movies. But people want the artists to reflect the art. Spiritual art was never separated from the artists, whether it was the dev-dasi (servant of god; modern day Bharatnatyam) temple devotional dances, or the movies of today.

“Dharmic” OTT platforms such as Prachyam have also come up today. While relaying the spiritual and the political, they have a clear focus on the dharmic content, from children’s shows to economic discussions. They may delve into movies in the future. Other OTT platforms with a similar modus operandi may emerge as well.

Poster for Prachyam’s documentary on Kalaripayyatu, the oldest martial art of the world.

So what is the solution for this, and where does #FreeHinduTemples come into this? What is the future for art, and are we in to see a split in the “schools of arts” when it comes to cinema?

Let us discuss below.

The Future of Dharmic Cinema: A Split from Traditional Cinema

There is clearly a demand for a parallel movie industry which is free from the abuse, debauchery and degeneracy that comes with the “modern” cinema. Much like how art such as theater (naatak) and dances (nritya) were both devotional as well as tamsik back in the day, we see movies as an industry also heading down the same path.

The three modes of expression are Satvik, Rajasik and Tamasik. Movies also may fall under these categories. The decision of which movie is what depends on the society itself to decide.

This is where #FreeHinduTemples comes in. Each temple would be run by their own trusts. The biggest Matha will have their own budget that they are free to spend. This spending can also go into movies. The choice of movies will also be on dharmic topics. The actors and actresses will be selected from practitioners of Dharm, and their performances will be devotional as well.

This would also free Bollywood from trying to cater to this market, unless an individual is highly driven. For example, Arun Govil quit smoking after his Ramayan role. Maybe Ranbir Kapoor will quit all meat after his Ramayan role? But he will have to earn the acceptance from the temple authorities, or he would have to reject their authority and make his own Tamasik movie (like Adipurush; or How Much A Dollar Costs), which has to be more unique and stand out from the Satvik movie industry.

Maybe a new feature of modern temples can be movie screens? Who knows. But a Temple Trust in a post-#FreeHinduTemples Bharat would own these cinema halls and have the screening of such movies.

The future will play itself out. It would be itneresting to see how piracy can impact a world like this, where it can be the root cause to bridge these worlds together. Regardless, there is a demand for dharmic movies with dharmic actors and actresses who reflect their devotion in their cinematic roles.
And with #FreeHinduTemple trusts having the freedom to fund those movie production houses which remain satvik, and pull away funding from those houses which are tamasik (and picking and choosing rajasik movies to put their money behind), a new cinematic style of art, inspired and patroned by temples, would be created.

Conclusion

With a rising demand for dharmic content, especially dharmic content where the art is not separate from the artist, is emerging. To fill this gap, #FreeHinduTemples and a formation of Temple Trusts which can patron such dharmic movies, can emerge to fill this demand gap. This would lift the burden from the tamasik-Bollywood to cater to a dharmic audience. It will also create a “middle ground movies” class, where both astik and nastik people can come together to enjoy certain “secular” arts. It would be both a return to tradition in terms of how arts are perceived (this time for a new type of art — cinema) as well as this would add more dynamism to cinema as an art in Bharat. It would also cater to a wider audience of Bharat, that wants to desperately decolonize itself.

This would be something that can change Bharatian cinema forever!