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26 Jul, 2015

“Bajrangi Bhaijaan” writer says film can build India-Pakistan bridge – Times of India

Koduri Ventaka Vijayendra Prasad’s pen has delivered cross-border magic, with Bajrangi Bhaijaan becoming a big hit in both India and Pakistan. Now this isn’t a film about dinosaurs or dancing or a wedding. It’s about a desi Hanuman bhakt reuniting a young Pakistani angel with her family in PoK. Here’s a message as big as the box office bucks. Prasad says it’s about building bridges between India and Pakistan. This is aman ki asha Bollywood style, bolstered by all of the herculean might of Salman Khan’s muscles.

By no means does Prasad live in cloud cuckoo land. He admits that the film has been received so well by India and Pakistan because nothing has gone ‘drastically wrong’ in their relationship ‘at the moment’. This provides a window of opportunity for countering the usual narratives of conflict with a tale of peace. Though no film or fairy tale can end bad blood on its own, Indians and Pakistanis collectively imagining a change can build momentum for such a change. In collectively queuing up for tickets to Bajrangi Bhaijaan they are sharing a warm wish for a calm border and rewarding relations.

Read the rest: Bajrangi Bhaijaan writer says his film can build bridge between India and Pakistan – TOI Blogs