'We are heading for dangerous times,' says filmmaker Sudhir Mishra reacting to the ghastly serial bomb blasts in Mumbai yesterday which left almost 200 dead and scores of injured people. Mishra who is a director with a cerebral bent of mind has directed serious movies like 'Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi', 'Dharavi', 'Chameli' and 'Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin'. 'Politicians should show more accountability. They must understand it is a lot of fault of a lot of people,' he adds.
After seven blasts ripped apart the Mumbai life line of local trains in a span of eleven minutes leaving behind a debris of mangled bodies and blood on the rail tracks, Mumbaikars hit the road with a vengeance. With Western Railways thrown out of gear, people desperately searched for any-n-every mode of transportation on road be it auto-rickshaws, taxis and buses. The true Mumbaikar rose yet again as a Giant and a mammoth amount of Help poured in. I personally got lifts from three different people before I reached home in four hours. There were hundreds of people on trucks, tempos and thousands of them walked relentlessly. Water cups, biscuits, blood donations, strangers taking the victims to hospitals without bothering about their religion, caste or creed was a touching sight. The ordinary Mumbaikar rose from the phoenix of treacherous deceit. Yet again!
'The simple ordinary people who are out of the economic agenda of the government always rises to the occasion. Despite no support these simple common people step to help people. Where are the Alyque Padamsee of South Bombay who says he is the Spirit of Bombay? It is easy to say nice things but the true heroes are these common folk who struggle each day to make two ends meet. Still they have a big heart to come to the rescue of their fellow brothers,' says Mishra agitatedly. In his 'Hazaron Khwahishen Aisi' Sudhir Mishra had glorified the idea of a revolutionary streak in today's youth and he is the right person to talk about the plight of common man of India that suffers unconditionally and gets on with life the next day.
Do you think what happened yesterday may be used by a Bollywood producer for scripting a film by sensationalising the whole issue? 'Bollywood is more important for the media than common people. It's only a money making machine. If you are making anything less than a crore in Bollywood you are a moron. Do you think they will really try to understand what goes in the mind of people who are about to be blasted away to nothingness.'
What about the disturbing images shown on news channels showing the mangled remains of dead bodies? 'I think people should see these gory pictures. It will disturb the consumer habit. It's important for everyone to know that they too could have been on that train. Everyone in Mumbai is vulnerable. I seriously feel Mumbai deserves much better. It's about time people started voting seriously in large numbers. People should become more informed,' Mishra signs off with a passionate plea.