Priyanka Chopra’s Quantico, an American television series that is going to go off air after its ongoing third season, seems to have signed off in a disgusting manner. The latest episode of the series, which is battling abysmally low viewer ship, shows a plot line in which “Indian nationalists” are trying to blow up New York’s Manhattan with a nuclear attack. In this episode that aired on June 1, an MIT professor acquires Uranium with a plan to make a nuclear bomb. An Indo-Pakistan summit to be held in New York is his target. Indians have been shown as not only attempting to carry out a hideous attack but also framing an innocuous Pakistan into the entire fiasco. In a cowardly attack on Hinduism, these “Indian nationalists” who plot to blow up Manhattan are Hindu men with Rudrakshas. The FBI led by Priyanka Chopra are shown to be uncovering and sabotaging this plot. This outlandish and outrageous plot defaming India has naturally irked Indians who came out expressing a deep sense of disappointment about this distasteful episode.
Storyline and sensible screenplay were never the traits of this flop television series. Using an obsolete and cliché time-jump technique, the series shows Alex Parrish, played by Priyanka Chopra, play an FBI agent. Whatever little viewer ship Quantico enjoyed, despite its disastrous storyline, could be attributed to the enthusiasm generated by Priyanka Chopra, a Bollywood actress leading an American television series. This somewhat made up for an obvious lack of strength in storyline. After the downward slide in the second season, makers decided on a shorter third season with an eventual wrap up. However, this latest episode has irked even the small audience the show has due to its grossly contemptible content, and it is unfortunate that Priyanka Chopra, a full Indian national, was fine with this storyline.
This seems to be yet another attempt to evoke sympathy towards Pakistan. There has been an agenda, especially among a section of filmmakers within India, to cloud the reality and show Pakistan as a peace-loving nation. On the other hand, India has been shown as a country strongly posturing against making peace. Movies like Veer Zara and Main Hoon na have constantly attempted to portray Pakistan as the land of peace-loving souls. Main Hoon na went a step further and was one of earlier hideous attempt at using the propaganda of alleged hyper-nationalism in India. The plot of the movie revolves around an Indian soldier going rogue in light of Indo-Pak peace talks. Similarly, a latest Bollywood flick, Tiger zinda hai furthers the agenda by showing Pakistani government’s pro-terror agency, ISI, as consisting of affable and kind officers.
This delusional attitude that was earlier confined to Indian “artists” seems to be spreading among their Western counterparts. Even though there have been angry reactions against this bizarre Quantico episode, one cannot help but sympathise with the naive minds behind the show. It is because of such ridiculous and senseless content that Quantico is battling miserable ratings. What else can you expect if you show Pakistan as innocuous and “Indian nationalists” as masterminding a nuclear attack! Such outright, absurd and unrealistic reversal of roles in indigestible.
Artistic freedom is alright, but defaming an entire nation in order to pursue an agenda and cater to an India-hating audience is outrageous and intolerable. Moreover, the fact that this episode is ironical to the ground realities is going to not only create an unmanageable controversy but also drive away whatever little fan base the show enjoys from India. Priyanka Chopra is a widely followed Indian actor and she plays the lead in ‘Quantico’. Despite being well aware of the ground realities, she chose to act in a show that blatantly disrespected the most tolerant nation on the planet. She probably did it for fame, money and of course to stay in sync with the global liberal cabal. It’s shameful to say the least.
India has been a land marked by tolerance and utmost respect for international peace and order. We have set high standards for ourselves and the rest of the world as far as tolerance and accepting fair criticism is concerned. However, we won’t let anyone wrongly portray us in bad light whilst simultaneously portraying Pakistan as a peace loving nation. Artistic or cinematographic freedom cannot be taken as an excuse to defame us. We are not facing this pro-Pakistan and anti-India propaganda for the first time. We have battled this rhetoric in the past as well, and that too from our own backyard. We know fully well how to fight down those who work on a particular agenda and try to portray us in a bad light.