Last night, Shatarupa and I went to the 08:30 p.m. screening of Dangal at the PVR Cinemas in Orion Mall here in Bengaluru. In compliance with the Supreme Court of India's Order - issued by a division bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Amitava Roy on November 30, 2016 - the National Anthem was played before the start of the screening, and in compliance with the same, we stood up.
The National Anthem was played again, but this time as part of the film in its closing minutes, which can itself be construed as a violation of that Order, for the Order states, "There shall not be dramatization of the National Anthem . . . to think of a dramatized exhibition of the National Anthem is absolutely inconceivable." Be that as it may, everyone around us stood up, just as they had done before the screening of the film. However, in compliance with the Government of India's Orders Relating to the National Anthem of India - which states, "When in the course of a newsreel or documentary the Anthem is played as a part of the film, it is not expected of the audience to stand as standing is bound to interrupt the exhibition of the film and would create disorder and confusion rather than add to the dignity of the Anthem" (emphasis mine) - we did not.
As soon as the Anthem ended, the man next to me asked angrily why I had not stood up, why had I not when everyone else had. I chose to say nothing and Shatarupa advised me not to react either. The man, however, continued, calling me an "asshole" and issuing vague threats about how he would show me once I came out of the hall, and then walked out in a huff himself. The film ended a few minutes later and we walked out of the nearest exit, the man nowhere in sight. He may have been waiting outside a different exit, the one that he had taken, but I did not seek him out, uninterested as I was in a confrontation with an angry ignoramus so seemingly intent on pseudo-patriotic vigilantism.
So, if you are going to watch Dangal - and you should because it is well worth the hype - know that you are not expected to stand for the National Anthem when it plays in the film, not by the Government of India, not by the Supreme Court of India, not by any legal authority, except, of course, self-righteous pseudo-patriots like the one I encountered last night. Despite no such expectation, if you do decide to stand, then do not expect others to stand as well. And if almost everyone else around you does decide to stand, like everyone else around us did last night, then recognise the fact that the few, if any, still seated are actually complying with the Government's Order regarding our National Anthem, unlike you, and let them be.
On the other hand, if you are confronted by an ill-informed imbecile like I was, then you could consider educating such a person about the Order Regarding the National Anthem of India, as I had thought of doing for a moment. Or you could simply do what I actually ended up doing, i.e. refuse to respond to a person who had the gall to assume that his self-righteous ignorance entitled him to an explanation from a rank stranger.
Whatever you do decide, do not let it ruin your experience of Dangal because it truly is one of the best Hindi films I have seen this year.
