Unlike the West that continues to “inspire” our cinema from time to time, animals in Bollywood have rarely taken centrestage. Barring the Rajesh Khanna classic, Haathi Mere Saathi way back in 1971, followed by the Jackie Shroff starrer Teri Meherbaniyan in 1985, we can hardly think of any worthy example where an animal played the hero. Tuffy in Hum Aapke Hai Kaun did share a significant amount of screen space, but at the end of it all, was reduced to a caricature. Blame it on the animal rights activists who create a hue and cry every time a furry creature walks about in the frame, or blame it on a dire paucity of scripts with nothing being written keeping animals in mind. While in the West, the likes of Uggie (the dog from The Artist) continue to bag awards and accolades, in India animals keep getting pushed to the periphery as nothing more than props.
“If they (animals) are not central to the script, why use them as props? Why do we need heroes fighting and falling over chicken stalls or shattering goldfish bowls?” says Ambika Shukla, trustee, People For Animals. But then what about period films such as Jodha Akbar or Drona where animals such as horses and elephants are mandatory props to create a definite milieu? “Use computer simulation if you have to. If one makes a story about a beggar, will they use a real beggar from the streets? My point is nobody comes up with an animal sympathetic story, like they do in the West,” Ambika adds.
Film critic Omar Qureshi feels that the fault lies with the law itself. “The laws to protect animals in India are terrible and a lot of animal rights organisations make noise just to gain publicity. Even Sooraj Barjatya, who started off by casting a real Pomeranian (Tuffy) opted for an animated parakeet in his next film Main Prem Ki Deewani Hoon. But it’s also true that animals on our sets are not handled by professionals, which is where the cruelty stems from,” he says.
The industry also feels that with rules so stringent it’s not worth going through the grind of making an animal centric film. “Making films in India is such a pain with all the clearance issues in nearly every department. And when they involve animals, the process becomes doubly harrowing,” says screenwriter Anuraadha Tiwari. She continues, “We are not exactly an animal-respecting society and such films tend to get labelled as children’s films. Even if we had a worthy script, there are very few takers and I don’t see the mindset changing in the next ten years.” Psychiatrist Dr Hozefa Bhinderwala renders a larger perspective to Anuraadha’s opinion. He says, “In this country, where space and livelihood is such a constraint, affection for animals is not a priority for people.”