What is it with Goa that it gets upset when a Bollywood film portrays the State as a place where drugs are freely available or projects some negative light on it? A movie, an episode of a television serial, any negative reference to Goa in a fictional setting on the screen – big or small – gets the authorities in a tizzy. The Bollywood film ‘Missing On A Weekend’ is the latest example of this. The State Tourism department has announced that it would approach the Censor Board to revoke the certification given to the film. The Tourism Department’s contention is that Goa’s image would get spoilt and that the makers of the film should have consulted the government.
No movie maker or writer is going to get in touch with a government, or for that matter any other authority, before making a film or writing a book. A writer or an artist is going to defend the work by claiming it is fiction and, after all every book and even movies today carry a disclaimer that the setting, characters and events are fictitious. There is something called creative licence that in fiction gives the writer the licence to reinterpret facts. It does and will lead to controversy, as was seen recently with the film ‘Udta Punjab’ as it sometimes provokes society to protest, but the counter is that the work should be judged by artistic merit and not for its ‘distortion of facts’ if any. In its verdict on ‘Udta Punjab’, the Bombay High Court was clear that the film is not based on any real-life plot and that blanket cuts would interfere with the creativity of the petitioners.
By reacting to the film ‘Missing on a Weekend’ all the government has done is bring attention to the film. There have been other movies in the past that have dwelt on the subject of drugs that have been set in Goa like ‘Dum Maro Dum’, there are books and short stories that focus on the same subject but these have not been picked by the government for censure. For instance there is a novel set in Goa that has child trafficking originating out of Goa as its theme. It is published in Goa hasn’t even raised an eyebrow.
The question therefore here is whether all that is fictional and portrays Goa in a negative light and should be ignored by the authorities. Perhaps it should, it is after all fiction and can be dismissed as not factual. But then what about the numerous articles that appear on newspapers and magazines and have little of positive to say about Goa?
Those are assertions of truth, not fiction by any chance and can be found anywhere on the Internet. Surf the internet, look up newspapers and magazines and there are scores of examples of this. One article that is stark in its negative portrayal of Goa appeared in the early weeks after the millennium madness that brought thousands to Goa, an article on the magazine section of a national newspaper had described the State as a ‘hedonist’s haven’. It hadn’t drawn a single comment. The exact words used to describe Goa were: ‘The allure of the azure sea. Sand, drenched gold by a benevolent sun. Feni under the leafy cool of palm trees. And at night, the relentless partying. If there is a hedonist’s haven in India, it is Goa. Prettier than a postcard, India’s tiniest State remains the vacationer’s hottest spot. And post-millennium, Goa’s become a hip international destination for trance-heads and rave-cravers.’
‘Hedonist’s haven, international destination for trance-heads and rave-cravers’, that is what Goa means to many who look at the State as only a tourist destination. Look up hedonism in the dictionary and it says: ‘The ethical doctrine that the seeking of pleasure is the primary good’. Once Goa was known to be a land that was laidback, socegado was the word used. Today, in the view of some, the land has become a ‘hedonist’s haven’, a term very far from what laidback would mean. ‘Trance heads and rave cravers’ don’t need explaining. Goa has for long been associated with narcotics and psychotropic drugs and rave parties take place throughout the tourist season even as successive governments resolutely deny this.
Goa’s reputation does not need a movie or a book to sink any lower. These descriptions of Goa – fictional or not – stem, to a large extent, from facts. There are enough of drug roundups and prostitution rackets being busted on a regular basis for there to be any doubt that these two illegalities do exist in the State. How long will the authorities hide behind the veil of denial? Instead of acting on the drugs and prostitution, the authorities spend time attacking a film that depicts Goa in this negative light. This isn’t going to do Goa’s reputation any good. If only the government would act as fast to tackle the real problems of narcotics and prostitution then writers and film directors would be left with no fodder to feed their creativity.
Goa needs a fresh start in tourism and its reputation arising from there. That can well be given a start by cleaning up the murky world of narcotics and prostitution. The first step here is admitting that these two evils do exist in the State and then working towards eliminating them totally. It won’t happen overnight and until then the portrayal of Goa as a place for drugs and prostitution will continue. When the State can go for months at a stretch without a single drug or prostitution bust, then perhaps can it train its guns on the writers and film makers portraying Goa negatively, and surely target those that call Goa a ‘hedonist’s haven’. Until then all protests on ‘negative portrayal’ will be futile exercises, fooling no one – not the writer, filmmaker, reader, movie goer and definitely not the residents of Goa, who have to live with the reputation, with little ammunition with which to defend themselves and their land.
(Alexandre Moniz Barbosa is Executive Editor, Herald)
