Soft power of Bollywood

The history of Hindi cinema can easily be divided into before Sholay and after it. Such is the power of this classic. This iconic Hindi movie will be released in Pakistan on March 23,  a national holiday, almost 40 years after its release in India. The initiative is by Nadeem Mandviwalla, who terms it "one of the most unique films of all time" and feels many people in Pakistan have been deprived of the experience of watching it in a cinema hall.
A Pakistani journalist has evocatively described how “people on this side of the Wagah border live ‘Sholay’, quote ‘Sholay’ and, above all, adore ‘Sholay’”. The pull of the movie is because of a perfect balance of plot and characterisation. The dialogues are scene stealers. Be it Gabbar Singh (“Kitnay aadmi thay”, “Bohat yaarana lagta hai”) or Thakur Sahib (“Mujhe Gabbar chahiye … zinda”), Veeru (“In kutton kay saamne mat naachna”) or Jai (“Tumhara naam kia hai, Basanti”, “Pyari nahi bohat saari baatein karti hai”), the resonance is felt on the other side of the border as well. It was remade for the younger generation in its 3D avtar.
The myriad emotions that Bollywood  evokes and the chord it strikes across the border undeniably makes cinema the glue that binds people, transcending barriers of culture, geography, even a chequered past. While politicians mouth high-pitched rhetoric and officials couch declarations in boring officalese, Bollwood makes people laugh, cry and unleashes the triumph of soft power. This straight-from-the-heart appeal is difficult to match. Similarly, the roaring success of Zee TV’s Zindagi, a channel devoted to Pakistani plays, has Indian audiences hooked to their television screens and affirm that a shared past need not be a baggage but a bridge. Just as well, Bollywood  rushes in where our ‘netas’ fear to tread.