Good god, man: MSG to finally release

It is now final. The impossible-to-imitate Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, spiritual head of the Sirsa (Haryana) based Dera Sacha Sauda sect, will debut in his new avatar as Bollywood’s newest swashbuckling cinematic superhero today. MSG (Messenger of God), the ever-controversial godman's maiden cinematic venture is all set to premier at Gurgaon's Leisure Valley today afternoon, to be followed by a nationwide release across 3,000 screens. 

There’s been an unsettling incongruity to the whole affair. In times when the rest of the world, centered on the brutality played out at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris, is trying to stand up for free expression and against intolerance, Leela Samson and her colleagues in the censor board had attempted to scuttle MSG’s massively trumpeted release. 

Their collective wisdom, somewhat belatedly (three days before the slated release of the film), informed them that a godman-posing-as-a-superhero was likely to cause communal unrest and perhaps even instigate sectarian violence. 

More realistically perhaps, Samson and Co were responding to demands for a ban on the movie, belligerently articulated by Sikh groups ranging from the extreme Khalistani fringe to more moderate voices represented by the mainstream clerics at the Akal Takht in Amritsar. 

This after close to two point five million fans and curious-as-hell surfers had viewed Singh "playing God" in the official cinematic trailer of the film, posted some weeks ago on YouTube with hotlinks from IMDB (Internet Movie Data Base) and a host of other cyber platforms including Facebook and Twitter. An equal, if not bigger, number of viewers saw varying versions of MSG's trailer on TV via the ceaseless flood of promotional adverts on almost every network with a half-decent TRP rating. 

So just what will India’s mesmerised-by-movies public now be watching? Without having seen more than the trailers and the breathless promotionals and advance apologies for offending even one of the five crore adherents the Dera Sacha Sauda chief claims – contrary to its title, Messenger of God is a formula potboiler about the one "good guy" (Singh) who thrashes the daylights out of an unending supply of "baddies" because the truth must be shown to be triumphing over evil. 

There is a veritable glut of hallucinogenics, rock, rap, dance and impossible action. Singh the "saviour" does his thing on custom-crafted superbikes, embellished ATBs and even the odd helicopter. Between rescuing damsels and punishing peddlers, he seamlessly transcends into foot-stomping jam sessions where in addition to being the on-screen star, he is also lead singer, lyricist and music arranger. 

More evolved cine buffs, like our good friends the censors, say MSG is over-the-top and crosses sacred lines between reality and make-believe. Really? What about Rajinikanth? Akshay Kumar? 007? The Hulk? One could go on, the full circle, back to Rajinikanth. 

Singh’s chief spokesman to the Dera Sacha Sauda, Aditya Insan was unperturbed at the spate of troubles that MSG has faced. He believes, “the censor board’s attempt to stall release of the film is actually what God ordained.”  

MSG will finally release today, but the fact that it was about to be blocked brings forth a rather troubling thought: we trust Indians with being responsible to elect governments and ring in change like they did in endorsing Narendra Modi for Prime Minister last May. Yet we for some weird reason cannot see them as being discerning enough to choose what they want to view in cinemas.