72 Hoorain is the newest movie to sacrifice facts at the altar of propaganda

The movie 72 Hoorain is the latest in the list of 'propaganda films' from the Hindi film industry this year. Facts, as usual, are gasping for air in a corner. The schedule for the industry is so stacked that even before the long chain of debate shows on The Kerala Story could reach their climax, we have a new entry.

What

Director Sanjay Puran Singh recently announced that his 2019 film 72 Hoorain is going to get its theatrical release on July 7 this year. The film focuses on how the myth of '72 virgins waiting for a martyr at the gates of Jannat' is used by terrorists to brainwash young and ignorant Muslim minds and lead them to their death. 

So, what is the issue with the movie?

Now, we all know that making a movie is easier said than done, but can we say the same about making a teaser?

When Ashoke Pandit, the co-producer of 72 Hoorain, shared the first look of the film via a teaser video on Twitter, it indeed made our heads turn, towards our calendars. 

The teaser starts off with stylised pictures of registered terrorists, against blood-red backdrops of the places they attacked. The list begins with the picture of Osama Bin Laden beside the now-famous photo of the airplane flying towards the World Trade Center buildings.

This is where the boo-boo begins. 

• The caption on the frame says 'Osama Bin Laden: 2011, World Trade Center'. Fact: The World Trade Center attacks happened on September 11, 2001. The movie pushes it by an entire decade.

The gag-reels don’t end here, as the very next frame was of Ajmal Kasab, with another caption that went to war with the wheel of time.

This time it said, 'Ajmal Kasab: 2011 Taj Hotel Blast, Mumbai'. The depths of wrong facts in this particular caption is, if one can easily put it, unplumbable.

• Fact: The attacks of 26/11 that occurred in Mumbai, was on November 26, 2008. It is a day that Indians would not casually ignore or get wrong; except, perhaps, the makers of this teaser.

Some who were quick to catch the glaring errors, wasted no time in sharing their discovery with Twitter. 

There still hasn’t been any sort of clarification or comment from the film’s crew on these set of captions; nor have they responded to any tweet that pointed out the same, leaving the humongous question unanswered:

Who is responsible?

The director of the movie 72 Hoorain, Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan, was honoured with a National Film Award in 2021 for Best Direction for this same movie. One would expect better from a National Award winner, for sure.

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