A Hindu man learns that he was born to Muslim parents – comedy or horror? Dharam Sankat Mein, an official remake of the 2010 British movie Infidel, mines its humour from the terror that strikes the souls of the faithful when they are told that they have been bowing their heads to the wrong god their entire lives.
Of course, neither Infidel nor Dharam Sankat Mein approaches anything resembling a theological debate. The message is simple and simplistic, one that uses the role-swap device to deliver a familiar homily about the need for Je suis-style tolerance. Both movies speak to their contexts, the former better than the latter. Infidel talks about anti-Semitism and conservatism in the Muslim community in the UK, while Dharam Sankat Mein is plonked into the middle of Hindutva hysterics over religious conversions.
As broad as its source but not as funny or effective, Dharam Sankat Mein sallies forth into potentially incendiary territory by glossing over the fact that it set in Ahmedabad, which has seen religious riots and increasing communal segregation over the years. Cinematographer Fuwad Khan’s directorial debut remains mostly faithful to the original, which is a good thing since he isn’t imaginative enough to fix Infidel’s contrivances.
Almighty mess
Caterer Dharam Pal Trivedi (Paresh Rawal) is a sceptic, especially of such staggeringly fake godmen as Neelanand (Nasreeruddin Shah), but also a bigot, particularly when it comes to his neighbour Mehmood (Annu Kapoor). But it is Mehmood to whom Dharam turns when he learns that his biological parents are Muslim. The movie gives no quarter to restless minds who will jump to conclusions about the implications of a Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament such as Rawal playing a Muslim-hater. Dharam is semi-agnostic, like Rawal’s character in Oh My God!, and he is enough of a pragmatic and result-oriented Gujarati to receive Islam 101 lessons from Mehmood, such as how to pray and roll your tongue around Arabic.
Situations taken from Infidel include a scene in which Dharam mishears every word as “Allah (the original was simply “Jew”) and a pop star with whom he is obsessed. Dharam has two equally offensive adversaries. There is obdurate cleric (Murli Sharma) who debars Dharam from meeting his father unless he proves that he is a true Muslim. And there is Neelanand, whose permission is necessary if his henchman’s daughter has to marry her beloved, who is Dharam’s son.
Sharma’s imam is more sinister than Infidel’s rabbi, and is scarier than Neelanand, played with tiresome buffoonery by Shah. Neelanand only wants Dharam’s money. The imam wants his faith.
Mercifully, we are still in the zone of comedy, and Rawal is remarkably spry. The 64 year-old actor coolly carries off the mostly insipid (but occasionally amusing dialogue) by a team of writers who appear to be walking on egg shells. Dharam Sankat Mein isn’t a patch on Oh My God! or PK, both of which boldly lampooned the commercialisation of religion, but the very fact that it exists, dares to broach the matter of Islamophobia among Hindus, and has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification redeems it somewhat.
We welcome your comments at
letters@scroll.in.
Of course, neither Infidel nor Dharam Sankat Mein approaches anything resembling a theological debate. The message is simple and simplistic, one that uses the role-swap device to deliver a familiar homily about the need for Je suis-style tolerance. Both movies speak to their contexts, the former better than the latter. Infidel talks about anti-Semitism and conservatism in the Muslim community in the UK, while Dharam Sankat Mein is plonked into the middle of Hindutva hysterics over religious conversions.
As broad as its source but not as funny or effective, Dharam Sankat Mein sallies forth into potentially incendiary territory by glossing over the fact that it set in Ahmedabad, which has seen religious riots and increasing communal segregation over the years. Cinematographer Fuwad Khan’s directorial debut remains mostly faithful to the original, which is a good thing since he isn’t imaginative enough to fix Infidel’s contrivances.
Almighty mess
Caterer Dharam Pal Trivedi (Paresh Rawal) is a sceptic, especially of such staggeringly fake godmen as Neelanand (Nasreeruddin Shah), but also a bigot, particularly when it comes to his neighbour Mehmood (Annu Kapoor). But it is Mehmood to whom Dharam turns when he learns that his biological parents are Muslim. The movie gives no quarter to restless minds who will jump to conclusions about the implications of a Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament such as Rawal playing a Muslim-hater. Dharam is semi-agnostic, like Rawal’s character in Oh My God!, and he is enough of a pragmatic and result-oriented Gujarati to receive Islam 101 lessons from Mehmood, such as how to pray and roll your tongue around Arabic.
Situations taken from Infidel include a scene in which Dharam mishears every word as “Allah (the original was simply “Jew”) and a pop star with whom he is obsessed. Dharam has two equally offensive adversaries. There is obdurate cleric (Murli Sharma) who debars Dharam from meeting his father unless he proves that he is a true Muslim. And there is Neelanand, whose permission is necessary if his henchman’s daughter has to marry her beloved, who is Dharam’s son.
Sharma’s imam is more sinister than Infidel’s rabbi, and is scarier than Neelanand, played with tiresome buffoonery by Shah. Neelanand only wants Dharam’s money. The imam wants his faith.
Mercifully, we are still in the zone of comedy, and Rawal is remarkably spry. The 64 year-old actor coolly carries off the mostly insipid (but occasionally amusing dialogue) by a team of writers who appear to be walking on egg shells. Dharam Sankat Mein isn’t a patch on Oh My God! or PK, both of which boldly lampooned the commercialisation of religion, but the very fact that it exists, dares to broach the matter of Islamophobia among Hindus, and has been passed by the Central Board of Film Certification redeems it somewhat.
