Father, Son, and the Holy War – Pitra, Putra aur Dharmayuddha

Father, Son, and the Holy War began as a film against communal violence in India. In the seven years it took to complete, the connection between religion, violence and male identity became increasingly apparent. The film explores the possibility that a key to the psychology of violence against the other lies in male insecurity, itself a product of the very construction of manhood” (Anand Patwardhan). The first part, Trial by Fire, based on the symbolism of fire, examines in particular the Sati,or sacrifice of the widow on her husband’s pyre, and the criminal fires which devastated Bombay in 1991. The second part, Hero pharmacy, shows how in the former context of the hatred which Hinus and Moslems felt for each other, the need to prove oneself to be “a man” drives men to violent acts.