‘Can’t expect police films to reflect reality, but ‘Sarfarosh’ was an exception’

Bengaluru: Bengaluru Commissioner of Police, B Dayananda, said police films—especially Indian ones— rarely reflect reality. ‘Sarfarosh’ (the 1999 film starring Aamir Khan) came close to depicting us, to some extent, he added. “But you can’t expect films to depict reality. If they do, they are no longer feature films—they become documentaries,” said Dayananda.

Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP) Traffic, M N Anucheth and Dayananda participated in the latest episode of Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, ‘WTF is…’, available on Spotify. The video of the interaction has also been posted on Kamath’s official YouTube page.

Refuting Kamath’s assertion that people fear the police because of how they’re portrayed in films—where, by the end, the hero beats up a corrupt policeman—Dayananda said this perception no longer holds, especially in cities. “We now have an equal number of films that lionise the force, like ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Singam’,” added JCP Anucheth.

According to Dayananda, the truth lies somewhere between the extremes. “Reality is somewhere in between,” he said. For Anucheth, the only film that came close to depicting the reality of the police force is Govind Nihalani’s ‘Ardh Satya’, made 40 years ago. However, he said the recent Kannada film ‘Smiling Buddha’, produced by Rishab Shetty, also stayed true to reality. Kamath, referring to a scene in ‘KGF’ where the hero, played by Kannada star Yash, destroys a police station with an “automatic thing” to thunderous applause from the audience, remarked that people probably enjoy such scenes because it shows policemen being “afraid” of someone too.

Dayananda said the stereotype of the fearful or corrupt policeman has stuck because it has been repeated over the years. Anucheth brushed it off, saying it’s all just for entertainment. “Whatever works for people… I think we should leave it at that. There’s no point in discussing it further. I’ve never psychoanalysed movies, in any case,” he added.

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