MUMBAI: Anurag Kashyap, a filmmaker, believes that since religion has only evolved into a tool in the hands of the powerful to further their agenda, the world needs more education rather than religion.

Shazia Iqbal's critically praised short film Bebaak, starring Sarah Hashmi and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, was produced by Kashyap, who said he chose to support the young director's voice because her script served him a window into a world he had never experienced.

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Based on actual events, the 20-minute film offers a glimpse into the life of Fatin Khalidi, a prospective architecture student, who is chastised by a religious figure (Siddiqui) for not donning a hijab (headscarf) during an interview for a scholarship.

The origin of any religion, in accordance with Kashyap, may be traced to the “need of trying to bring people together to protect them in old times" when scientific understanding was absent.

He told, “People, over a period of time, have discovered so much more with science. I feel in today’s world, the need for religion is much less. The need for education is much more but religion has now become a tool in the hands of the powerful and politicians to propagate their own agendas.”

The award-winning short film Bebaak, which also features Sheeba Chadha and Vipin Sharma, is currently streaming on JioCinema as part of a movie festival.

Anurag Kashyap, who considers education a privilege enjoyed by a select few, claims that movies like Shazia Iqbal's expose him to various cultures.

He mentioned, “The impact of Shazia’s writing was so strong on me because there is a perspective which I learned from her script. I haven’t seen that world. In my world, I know what we have to do to get a scholarship. There are many worlds that I haven’t seen. You get to know a person more through their work, writing, or filmmaking. Shazia can’t help but be honest, it is her problem she cannot lie. So I thought this film needed to be made.”

The filmmaker noted that only Shazia Iqbal could have created a movie like Bebaak, just as only Neeraj Ghaywan could have created Masaan, a 2015 film Kashyap co-produced. As its protagonists experience suffering and salvation, Ghaywan's Varanasi-based film focused a lens on discrimination, moral policing, and the deeply ingrained caste system.

He adds, “Masaan can only be made by someone like Neeraj Ghaywan, who wrote it with Varun Grover. I, who was born in Banaras, didn’t see the city the way a young man from Hyderabad did. Because I grew up amid all of that, it was part of my conditioning.”

Anurag Kashyap, known for his critically acclaimed films Dev D, Gangs of Wasseypur, Ugly, and Mukkabaaz, claimed he is frequently charged with criticizing Hinduism but avoiding Islam.

However, the director asserted that he has "no right" to discuss any religion other than his own, “I should talk about my religion, not anyone else’s. I’ll talk about my community, my people. If I enter this debate about burqa and hijab, my perspective will only be on a surface level and that of an outsider. When that discussion begins, I forget that even my mother used to do ‘ghoonghat’ (veil). The length of the ‘ghoonghat’ depended on who was in front of her. When in my father’s village, the length of her ‘ghoonghat’ increased. At other places, it was only till her head. At home, there was no ‘ghoonghat’ at all.”

When questioned about how women are perceived in society based on their interactions with men, the filmmaker responded, "We view women as zamindari."

“It’s basically the male insecurity from which patriarchy comes because if we just look at it, a woman is so much more strong and powerful. Man is very threatened if a woman becomes independent. We are scared that they snatch away something that’s theirs so we tie them up in shackles of rules and law,” he continued.

“Whenever there’s misbehavior with women, it’s said ‘ghar ki izzat lut gayi’. Why are only daughters or women regarded as the honour of the house? Why not the men? I have a major problem with that terminology,” he concluded.

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Credit- Indian express