Every single frame of a film reflects director's politics: Kabir Khan

Kabir Khan on Monday said he is ready to ignore bad acting or poor screenplay but "bad politics" or "wrong messaging" is something that he cannot overlook as a filmmaker because every frame of a movie reflects its director's ideology.

The filmmaker said there are times when audiences accept such films and it makes him sad but all he can do is try and present the contrary view through his cinema.

"As a filmmaker and even more as an audience, I can forgive bad screenplay, music and direction, writing and acting, but I can never forgive bad politics.

"I feel really sad when sometimes films with really wrong messaging get critical acclaim and a lot of audience support. I feel terrible about it. I can't do anything except let my own films give a contrary point," he said at a panel discussion on 'Cinema as an agent of change' at the JIO MAMI 21st Mumbai Film Festival with Star.

Recent releases such as "Kabir Singh" and "Joker" have divided critics with their skewed messaging, sparking debate about their director's point of view.

The "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" filmmaker said the term politics is often misunderstood as something that relates only to political parties but the word has a wider meaning.

"But anything is politics. The way I frame a woman through my lens, that's politics. That's talking about my politics, about how I think about that woman or women in general, the way I write a woman character will reflect my politics. The way I show children or anything... Every single frame of film, you have to understand, is political and every filmmaker's politics comes shining through," he said.

Kabir said nobody has the right to decide which film should or shouldn't be made but ultimately the responsiblilty lies with the director.

"The film will reflect the filmmaker's politics. Now you might or might not agree with it. But nobody has the right to tell anyone in this world, 'make this and don't make this.' As a filmmaker I can say, this film's politics is so bad, why is it doing so well?
"I can feel bad about it. But I cannot say, 'This can't be made, my politics is correct.' That is a given. It has to ultimately be a film. Audiences buy tickets to watch the film voluntarily. No one forces them. If the audience tends to support a film, whose politics I don't agree with, I will feel bad about it but that's all that I can do about it."
"It's a powerful medium, reaches far and wide. It can definitely make you think. Whether it leads to a change, I don't know. It's too pompous to say films can bring about a change but if there are a number of films that speak about a certain subject and if people are consuming the subject, it can definitely make people think."