The #PK Opportunity

Each one of us may have our own take on the Amir Khan starer PK, whether it is a good or a bad effort by those who made it. But on one thing all of us would agree and that is, there are people who exploit the religious beliefs of our highly religious societies for their own gains. Of course I am not addressing those who are either the ones who indulge in such corrupt activities in the name of religion or are benefited in some way by it. Obviously PK will impact their business so they wouldn’t like PK or any similar effort.

Once you agree that bad practices in the name of ALL religions exists, then you would also agree that there has to be an effort to eliminate those from the societies. And when you compare between all such efforts in the past, PK had been the best effort so far. Is PK perfect? No, it could have been made better. Some of the scenes could have been avoided. But there is hardly anything which you can name, that could not be improved. Superstitious beliefs created by these religious Mullahs, Babas and all those who convince their followers that they are superior and have access to God better than their followers, have crept in our societies like  cancer. People are approaching these fake people for their each and every problem. I have seen many families who had been making rounds of the mazars and babas for years for getting the solutions of their various problems including illness, financial issues, child bearing issues etc., which has not only made them disappointed and feel exploited but they had also lost valuable time which could have been used for proper treatment of the problems faced by them. If PK has raised uncomfortable questions against such corrupt practitioners then it should be welcomed by all.
   
I feel PK is an opportunity for all religions, I wish the film had shown little more of the corrupt practices in Muslim society, such as wrong practices at mazars, radicalization, how people get fatwas issued etc. But the makers of PK either could not accommodate it or deliberately avoided those to ensure safe march towards the theatres without any fatwas. Since the film is made in India and the intended audiences were majority Indians, that could be the reason to show the practices which majority of Indian could relate to. A film "Khuda ke Liye" by a Pakistani director Shoib Mansoor has taken up the issues in Muslim society quite directly. So it is not that how much content in the film exists against which religion’s corrupt practice, but who are the majority of audiences and how best the message can be sent across, may be the deciding factor.

Those who will see PK with a positive mind, would certainly take the message home that it is not against religion, but the corrupt practices of those who exploit the religious beliefs of common persons.

Khalid A. Khan