Afghan film-maker Siddiq Barmak, who shot to fame after making Osama, an avant-garde film in the post-Taliban regime, is going back a tad disappointed from India this time round.
NEW DELHI: Afghan film-maker Siddiq Barmak, who shot to fame after making Osama, an avant-garde film in the post-Taliban regime, is going back a tad disappointed from India this time round.
After the screening of the film at the Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Milia Islamia, students raised a barrage of questions against the film-maker's anti-Taliban stand. Osama exposes the extremities of the Taliban regime.
"I was completely shocked to find that most of the students were pro-Taliban. They wanted to understand why I made a movie that depicted the Islamic outfit in a negative light. According to them, both America and the Taliban can be placed on the same footing," he said. The film that tells the true story of an Afghan girl brought up as a boy to face the exigencies of the system, exposed the hardships that most girls and women faced during the regime.
"It saddens me that the youth in India have such a confined mindset. I don't know where this stems from. All I can think of is that this is the result of lack of experience. I told them that if they ever went through a similar situation, they would definitely think differently," he added.
Quashing rumours about intelliegence sources talking about the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan he said: "I think the biggest terrorist is the media. There are problems all over the world. But whenever Afghanistan is concerned, it is always portrayed in a myopic manner. There is so much rebuilding taking place there."
The director cited the example of a cultural revival in his country which hopes to put the art, culture and traditions of Afghanistan back on track - the cultural movement that had come to a halt ever since the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddha.
"The national film archive which was burnt by the Taliban is now being revived. We are gradually restoring the paintings that were defaced during the Taliban regime. There is a new wave of creative expression again," Barak said.
After tying up with an Indian production house for an Indo-Afghan television series, Barak is also working on his next project with Marina, the protagonist of his earlier movie, whom the director had chosen to cast after a visit to a street children's home. "My next film will reflect stability, development in Afghanistan," he said.
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