Movie Review: 'Sadda Haq'
Sadda Haq is a Punjabi film recently released worldwide except for in India, where it has been banned. The film concerns a fictionalized account of Jagtar Singh Hawara, who is currently in prison for the assasination of Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh. The film documents both the general state of Punjab during the late 1980's and early 90's while also portraying the Hawara protagonist's, Kartar Singh, own role in the events leading up to the assassination. The film has received a tremendous amount of support globally from the Sikh community and has been distributed to many more cinemas than usual for a Punjabi movie. However, the film has been banned in India due to its 'controversial' nature. It's obvious this ban is simply another gambit by the Central Government and Prakash Badal to keep the sikhs in Punjab docile and under their thumbs.
As a Sikh that has immense pride, respect and love for Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and all the Khalsa involved in the events leading up to 1984 and afterwards, I found the film damaging to their name, empty in its substance, and finally false in its overall message.
There are several elements in the portrayal of the 'Militant Sikhs' throughout the film that bother me. In general, Sardars are portrayed as either good-time charlies or stone-faced soldiers. I found that too often the portrayal of the Sikh-Prisoners to be of that stone-faced soldier. For instance, when we first meet Kartar Singh he is kind and comical with his wife, but upon walking to and speaking to Sharon Gill, the foreign Sikh research student, he greets her but remains entirely serious and overly-dramatic. So the audience is given an image of these 'Militant Sikhs' to be threatening and intimidating. However, throughout history Sikhs have been documented numerous times as indeed being soldiers, but soldiers with a great deal of empathy and merriness. A pillar of the Khalsa is to remain in Chardi-Kala (High Spirits). So, the intimidating static portrayal of the jailed Kartar Singh is contradictory. The filmmakers could have made Kartar Singh, and thereby all Khalistani's/Militant Sikh, appear far more accessible, friendly and human, because in all likelihood that is what they are. To add to this rigid attitude was also the build up of Kartar Singh's machismo. For instance, when he first arrives in the jail he is insulted by another prisoner while receiving a meal. He ignores the insults, but when the large brutish prisoner puts a finger into his food and tells him that the plate is once again 'jhoota' Kartar Singh decides to pick a physical fight with the man. Whether or not this actually occured, it has to be noted that if Sikhs are meant to learn and be inspired from this film, seeing our hero aimlessly and recklessly instigate fights is an anti-Sikh message. Finally, the most damaging part of the film was the lack of any sort of explanation for why the movement had even existed. The events up to 1984, which cannot be emitted from speaking of Punjab in recent times, are not paid due attention. Instead, we are meant to understand that Kartar Singh only got involved in the movement once the police had acted against his own family. Ultimately, Kartar Singh and others were simply a group of revenge-seekers. While speaking to Sharon he briefly mentions some of the points of the Anandpur Resolution, but not enough to grab the attention of the audience. I found this to be the most insulting aspect of the film. Of all the events of that time to focus on, to focus on the Hawara case in the aftermath of Operation Bluestar and not give a reasoned and truthful account of the 'militant sikhs' greater aims paints them in a poor light and denigrates the Shaheed Sikhs of the years previous.
As a film for Sikhs by Sikhs, I found the film lacking in Sikhi. Either the Sikhi of the characters is briefly portrayed, such as when they are doing paath(prayer), or is simply assumed in their dress and appearance. So perhaps, the filmmakers didn't feel the need to make the film overtly 'religious' and felt having Sardar actors would suffice. But in a climate where the greatest threats to Sikhi, in the form of Badal, false Sants, the Police, look the same as any other Sikh, I feel it is paramount in a portrayal of those Sikhs following Sant Bhindranwale's leadership has fueled by Sikhi, and not some less divine and pure instruction. Sant Bhindranwale was not perfect, but in all his speeches Guru Granth Sahib Ji and Sikhi were the cornerstone of his arguments. He did not have a self-serving agenda, but simply preached the spiritual and political nature of Sikhi. 'Sadda Haq', as the first film from the 'militant Sikhs' point of view, it let sthe Sikh community down in conveying to the audience the Sikh tenets that led the rebellion. Rather, the film focuses largely on the tangible injustices committed by individual characters, which evoke a more personal response from Kartar Singh etc. What the film didn't tackle with any conviction is the intangible yet more pervasive systematic attacks on Sikhi and Sikhs.
In total, 'Sadda Haq' lacked much substance. In its confused attempt to be both an informational/motivational film while also having standard Bollwood cinematic characteristics, the film falls flat. I wouldn't recommend the film as an introductory lesson into the events of that time, nor would I give it any credence as a well-made film. Instead, it comes across as the exploitation of a serious event in our recent history in the name of making a film with mass-appeal. Whereas any Sikh notion of Our Right(Sadda Haq) would most definitely evoke the formation of the Khalsa as a sovereign body free from the rule of any other, 'Sadda Haq's' sadda haq I found vague and contrived from Sharon's plot-line and not the obvious movement lead by Bhindranwale Sahib. In many ways, the film itself is reflective of a new generation of Sikhs living abroad; the kids now in college that are not particularly into Sikhi but have a particular interest in recent Sikh issues post 1984, which happen to align with trendy western values such as human rights, transparency etc. The portrays the efforts of Hawara,taking Amrit sacrificing one's own life for the Panth, as a part of our past and Sharon's efforts, researching Hawara in the greater notion of 'minorities at war', as the more viable path for contemporary Sikhs. Thus, the film stands on no ground to send a concrete or clear message to the Sikhs of today of what our rights are, and what we can or ought to do.
Finally, the film concludes with a bare-faced lie. The aquittal of Kartar Singh and subsequently Sharon Gill's monologue that times have changed and now we can speak out and effect change against the the problems of the past is simply a fantasy that the film decides to concoct. in realty, the actual truth is nowhere near. Punjab on the surface may seem more peaceful than in the 80's and 90's, but the same problems that existed then are very much alive. The notion that somehow times have changed and that the villainous elements in India that sought to purge Sikhi from our minds over fifteen years ago is no longer active is not true. Most of the major players against us then are still the puppet-masters from the Gandhi family to Badal, to the RSS. For any inspiration the film may have evoked in the audience, it was nullified by Sharon pithy falsehoods at the end.
The argument can be made that the filmmakers made this film a certain way as to avoid censorship, ban etc. It may be an argument others accept, but I find it hard to respect. For a film with a Sardar Sikh writer/director, a cast and production full of Sikhs, this film did little to advance the truth. In my opinion, which I would hope is a general opinion of Sikhs, any and all work we do as Sikhs should be with the best interest of Sikhi and the Panth at heart. Rather, this film is simple off the conveyer belt of Punjabi films with a Sikh twist.
Ultimately, 'Sadda Haq' is a film trying to be everything to everyone. With its mainstays of in-film songs, dramatic sound effects and violence while also conveying the events post-1984, the movie is neither a well crafted tale nor an accurate or reasonable portrayal of the Sikh rebellion. I was dissapointed with the film and equally disappointed with the plaudits it received from the Sikh community, especially those that openly affiliate with Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale.
Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa, Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh.