Sikhs, Film Music, and Oral History

      In the Documentary 1984 -- A Sikh Story, I learned about tragedies that happened in India amongst Sikhs in 1984. Sonia Deol, a modern day Sikh, explored these events in the documentary and brought to light through personal investigation the horrors and the truth of what happened. Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, a leader of the Sikhs, took refuge in the Golden Temple (a center for Sikhs) with some other Sikhs. He was keeping weapons inside the temple and the government was becoming increasingly wary of him. They flushed him out early June and created further havoc in doing so. The temple itself was half destroyed and almost everyone who had been inside, incuding peaceful Sikhs, was killed. This was called Operation Blue Star. Following this event, two Sikhs assassinated the prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, because of the attack on the Golden Temple. Hindus everywhere retaliated by murdering Sikhs. Thousands of Sikhs were brutally dragged from their homes and killed. Thankfully, at least on the surface, the domino effect stopped there. 
      In two other documentaries, Movie Mahal #41--Laxmikant Pyaralal Part 2 and Songs and Memories, Sahira Kazmi, I learned about music and film in the 1980's. In the first documentary, two famous composers of Bollywood film were interviewed. They shared how music is their lives and dialogued the progression of music in Indian film and pop culture. They favor both old-time Indian music and the modern style of music in the west, but they don't use either. This is because the majority of their audience still relates to music between the two. These musical men, however, slowly infused more and more western influence into their music numbers. They wished Bollywood films infused music into their story the way films here do; the music plays in the background while the story continues in the foreground. In Bollywood, this was not the case. When music started up, you knew the characters would object themselves to the song, usually by singing it and dancing.
      In the second of the aforementioned two documentaries, Sahira Kazmi, the only female movie director in her day, described the film industry from her point of view. She had a hard time in the industry of film, because men were not used to being ordered around by women and because of her position, she had to. She also had a hard time because the limitations of films at the time were numerous and strict. However, Kazmi testifies to how this challenge was also good for her in some ways. Ultimately, what Sahira felt was her job to carry out through film, was to liberate and empower women from their humbled position. 

      The people Sonia Deol interviewed in the Sikhs documentary were all directly involved in either the Blue Star Operation or the massacre of the Sikhs. Primarily, she interviewed people who had lost  family members who were Sikhs, people inside the temple at the time of Operation Blue Star, and the man who gave the command for Operation Blue Star. Sonia, herself, was primarily the narrator behind the documentary. The man who commanded Operation Blue Star was a good balance for the documentary as he showed the viewpoint least often considered when the tragedy is inspected. He was probably also biased though and seemed to be in a state of denial. The Sikhs directly influenced by the death and fear of the events surrounding Operation Blue Star are biased as well, but their bias is one of pure experience and pain. They show how innocent people are victimized by mass prejudice and hasty decisions. Sonia is probably very personally biased, but she holds herself together well. She is a Sikh, so for her, the conflicts are grounded in her faith, making it hard for her to be impartial. On the whole, however, this documentary was very informative and revealed to me yet again how corrupted human nature is. 
      In the last two documentaries, the interviews were very personal and focused more on the person being interviewed than any general time trends or events. The first one gave a feel for history, but only in the world of music. It was informative on the making of Bollywood music and how the people behind it don't always get to choose how to carry out their work. It also informed the audience of past composers with such skill, they could create a song in eight minutes. Overall, the documentary was somewhat boring, but it also gave insight into the lives and people behind Bollywood film. 
      Finally, in the documentary interviewing Sahira Kazmi, it was interesting to hear from a woman's perspective in a field primarily consisting of men at the time. She was also biased in this way however, seeing herself is independent from other producers and directors because of her gender. The interviewer's questions are very directional, but because they are based on already existing elements of Kazmi's life, they don't lead the interview into deception. Kazmi liked to talk about her love for family and her childhood, sneaking off to the cinema with her siblings. She also seemed to like explaining her job and the way it worked in the present. She may have been more bored by talking about how her gender makes her position unique because that has grown old to her. 
      From these three documentaries, I learned bit's and pieces of knowledge which have surely added to my jigsaw puzzle of learning. It was interesting and grievous to hear how brutally the Sikhs in 1984 were killed for the crime of two under their religion. Even more intriguing and lamentable, however, was that Sikhs truly believe they are following the truth, and yet they aren't. It was saddening to see such devout people and to know that they were and are far from the truth. I would like to learn more about the Sikh religion and their teachings.
      In the second documentary, I was most intrigued by the relationship between Laxmikant and Pyaralal. They spent so much time together, eventually they almost seemed to have a telepathic relationship with regards to music. There was nothing in that documentary, however, which spurned any further interest. 
      In the third documentary, I was intrigued by the limits on Indian cinema. It was also interesting simply to sort of get to know a random person. I would like to find out more about Indian cinema restrictions and the person of Sahira Kazmi.
   

  Sahira Kazmi