On a Bhutanese film

I don’t like the Sir Wang Drugay, a Bhutanese film. Honestly. The filmmakers  have, dare I say, mindlessly strayed away from their responsible professionalism. 

Let me tell you why and here you will fairly understand my protest. One of the characters in the film is caught into a miserable circumstance and she needs money terribly. Eventually, the character comes to a sad conclusion that she sells her kidney. After the kidney transplant, the character holds a huge sum of money.

And after watching the film, I had these sickening feelings. Firstly, if I were in a miserable situation I would only resort to this demented idea of organs selling business. For, I would think that there’s no other approach and alternative for me, except this damning way out to sell my own kidney. Secondly, the way this character grasps a huge sum of money after the kidney transplant only intensified my desire and greed. Plus, it grotesquely disrespects and demeans the stature of human beings as it glorifies money over our own organs. Above all, this gruesome storyline is very unlikely Bhutanese. 

I understand the predicament of this character, but the director should have thought other alternatives. Mind you, this is Bhutan, not India or other countries. Bhutanese are, generally, generous and helpful. That being said, our society is very protective and people in destitute and wretchedness are never disregarded.

Also, today there are many established NGOs in Bhutan and still many are coming up. The government in partnership with these NGOs has been relentlessly working towards addressing the problems of the underprivileged ones in multi-pronged strategies by providing necessary and timely interventions/aids. And this kind of film only spreads misleading message that our country is another failed state-that our country has no systematic mechanism for the people in wretched conditions. Moreover, it would arouse anger in viewers and drift them apart from the government.

Perhaps the filmmakers were insanely inspired by the Hollywood and Bollywood and were trying to apply their ideologies here to make this film more dramatic. But they should have realized that the reality in Bhutan is starkly different. They should have been mindful that the films they produce have a huge impact on their viewers and that Bhutanese viewers are mostly semi-literate and can hardly think critically.

BICMA, the censorship body, perhaps is also dreadfully failing its duty. I think this authority too lacks expertise to censor the content and impact of any production on its viewers. The BICMA should be mindful that this kind of film only misinforms, misguides and misleads its viewers. I, as a responsible citizen, earnestly throw this urgent suggestion that please recruit some professionals to censor the films.