Bandit Queen

by Fazeel Aziz Chauhan

(Published in Pakistan Link  ~  8-7-95)

 
"Bandit Queen" is the name of a new Indian movie. It is a true story based on the life of a famous woman named Phoolan Devi. At one point in time, the film was banned in India because of its controversial content. The movie is not just about Phoolan Devi, however, because it deals with some of the deep social issues of India and Pakistan. This is a very remarkable and socially conscious movie, which makes the viewer look inside. For the Desi viewer, the reality of this movie is hard to accept.
The film opens with an image of a young eleven year old girl. She stares right into your eyes and tells you in a powerful and assertive voice "Yes, I am Phoolan Devi..." At the end of the sentence was a common curse word. This was very unexpected and really grabbed my attention. A young, cute, innocent little girl is not supposed to talk like that. It made me sit up in my seat and I wondered "What was that." From the beginning, the movie was very disturbing. But this ugly discomfort had a very strong and positive effect on my psyche.
Another nice touch in "Bandit Queen" was that Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was the music composer. There was a haunting song which was sung by a child. Khan kept the music in its raw form and gave it a rough edge. Even the music was packaged in a very real way. This movie represents one of those very rare occasions when the film medium has been used to present the truth to people. Almost all Pakistani and Indian movies show us a romanticized view of life. Like tv, movies can become a drug that we use to escape from real life. We've all seen enough of these movies about fictitious characters who live in a nonexistent world, that we start expecting our real lives to be like that too. But when real life strikes us over the head, it is a very disappointing experience. Films and tv can be very powerful and motivating tools if we want to bring a positive change in the world. That is one reason why this is such an awesome movie.
In Bandit Queen, there were issues which were absolutely the truth but these were hard to swallow. The ugly realities of our society were very difficult to accept. I found myself sitting at the Nuart Theatre in Santa Monica. Almost everybody in the audience was American and there were hardly any Desi people. This made it worse. My first reaction was that I don't want Americans to see all these evil things about my culture. It will give them another excuse to discriminate and belittle us. But if our own society will not acknowledge these problems in our culture, then it might take outside observers to convince us that hey, this behavior is not right.
So what was so disturbing in this movie? It exposed the worst kind of child abuse. It slapped me to show me the severe oppression of women. It demonstrated how rich people can take poor people for granted and make their lives so cheap. It shouted of how human beings who don't have enough money or status are treated worse than animals. It screamed with the pain of women who have no choices and who have to live their whole lives like prisoners and slaves. It makes you sick about the class system which exists in both India and Pakistan.
The movie really shook me up. It woke me up and reminded me of the society that I come from. It showed me who I am. It made me realize the truths about myself and my people, which I didn't want to accept. It showed me the suffering of the masses of India and Pakistan. It reminded me of the raw, blunt and painful prejudice that my people have. Prejudice against how others look, against women, against the poor and against people who have a lower class. It is very powerful movie. If enough of us see it, then making positive changes in our society will become easier. You will realize that there are a lot of things you want to change. You will feel like taking some action to help somebody. And maybe you will follow through and do something to stop the oppression, injustice, prejudice, and other crimes against humanity. What do you feel?

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan in Los Angeles, 1996

Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan '96

by Fazeel Aziz Chauhan

(Published in Pakistan Link ~ September '96)

In August, I had the honor of seeing Khan in concert twice.The man is responsible for making Qawali music popular around the world. He has truly had a profound influence on my life. I traveled to Berkeley with my father and noticed the majority of the audience was Caucasian. Knowing that being a Muslim is considered a crime in America, I was very happy and proud to see that they had come to appreciate a Pakistani Muslim. I realized that it was an extremely rare occasion where the man being admired by Americans was mine, the music was mine and the heritage he represented was mine. That makes us feel proud. Outside that auditorium, there isn't a large place we can call our own. The overt and covert pressures of society can force a person to not be himself. But at Khan's shows we felt free to walk, dress, talk and act in our own true and natural way.

In Los Angeles, the tension in the air may have been due to the open racism here. But Pakistani youth danced in ecstacy, free and proud. Some demonstrated their power and rebellion by taking off their shirts. We usually hear nothing good about Muslims from the dominant society. Khan has broken through those barriers, forcing the listeners to take a second look at Muslims. His music is on the soundtracks of Last Temptation of Christ, Bandit Queen, Natural Born Killers and Dead Man Walking. He has albums with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, and Michael Brooks.
Khan sings many Qawalis about Allah and Prophet Mohammed (PBUH). In addition, he sings about the lives of many Saints who can serve as real heroes. For example, one of the many Qawalis praising Hazrat Ali talks about his courage stating:
Ali was victorious in all battlefields
Khayber still trembles upon hearing his name
When I sit in my car and plug in one of Khan's tapes, it takes me to another world. There, I get wisdom, courage, and joy. And I am ready to face whatever comes my way.
Professor Tayyab says "It is not that WE are trying to be like THEM. The truth is, THEY are trying to be like US". They steal ideas from the East, re-package them and label them as "Western". Why is it "cool" for Sting and Robert Plant to wear our Kurta or Sherwani, but when we wear our own clothes, it's frowned upon as if it's unacceptable like a crime?