The saga of the slap!

In the movie ‘Two states’, which is an otherwise a soft romantic movie with a sprinkling of family drama, one scene particularly stands out from the tone that the rest of the movie has, and comes as an unexpected twist. To some people, it also comes across as a shock. The scene in question is where Arjun Kapoor, the hero of the film slaps his father, played by Ronit Roy. The reason it comes as a shock to most of the people is that rarely or perhaps never in popular culture, either in bollywood or on the smaller screen TV, has this kind of scene been witnessed before. The maximum representation of a son’s rebellion or rage has been in the form of either the son moving out of the parental house, heated altercations between the father-son duo and a sharing of a cold vibe. Even otherwise and outside the reel world, we have rarely heard stories of father-son physical skirmishes. Occasionally, we have seen a few stories here and there of son killing father in fit of rage, but these have been experience only through new paper stories rather than one’s immediate living reality. Also, these have always been discarded and termed as son going ashtray or result of lack of proper values. What is significant to notice here is that the scene in the movie reveals to us two things. One, how the new generation sees itself and two how others have started to see the new generation. Interestingly, the slap does surprise and shock most of the people watching the movie in the theater, yet it does not result in those same people rejecting it as an unreasonable and uncalled for act. In fact, everyone heaves a sigh of relief and actually appreciates it after that so as to put a stamp of legitimacy to it. This points to how the new generation/youth is seen by others as a possible storehouse of wisdom. It could very well have been interpreted as an act of rage, rebellion or indiscipline. However, the reaction of the public watching the movie tells that it is eventually consumed as an act of maturity to do what the moment demands, courage to do what is right and one that is backed by sound reason. This is evident across other spheres where the new generation is getting more emphasis or their viewpoint is asked for. In some places, they are the main decision maker with the accepted corollary being that they know more than others. It also alludes to how today’s youth looks at self. The hero could have very well just let it go without any fuss. The fact that he decides to step forward, take matters into his own hands and slap his father speaks of the confidence this generation reposes in itself. Also, he just not only slaps him and runs away rather he decides to stand his ground and look into his father’s eye after slapping him. This makes the slap not just a physical act. It also makes a point and delivers a key message from the hero that the transfer of ‘right thing to do’ need not be limited to one way from father to son. It can very well be the other way round as well. What validates and vindicates this slap as the right measure is the returning of father to his right ways and doing what a father is supposed in the end of the movie. The bigger changing societal story line that the movie narrates is how the authorship for defining the roles within the family is not limited to only the patriarch, who was always beyond question and rapprochement and how the new generation/youth has become comfortable in authoring his own role, and sometimes reminding others of their role. The movie talks about the changing fault lines between the new and old generation. One thing which remains constant as before is the happy ending to a bollywood movie.