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Abbas Tyrewala said that it is cringeworthy to see the villain always be a Muslim character.
Abbas Tyrewala is currently working on War 2.
Screenwriter, lyricist and filmmaker Abbas Tyrewala is a prominent name in Bollywood and has worked with some of the biggest figures in the Hindi film industry. In a recent chat, Tyrewala reflected on the depiction of villains in Hindi films and said that it is cringeworthy to see the villain always be a Muslim character.
In an interview with The Lallantop, Tyrewala said, “Earlier, films were made by highly individualistic filmmakers. I worked with like-minded people, and there were hardly any instances when the villainy or the political stance of a film made me cringe. But now, it isn’t the same. And I am not saying this because I am an Indian Muslim, but just that, from a writing point of view, it is just cliched to see another Muslim villain.”
Abbas Tyrewala is currently writing dialogues for Hari Hara Veera Mallu, which stars Bobby Deol as Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. “When Aurangzeb is the villain, there is a sense of importance that is accorded to his representation. Of course, there is the truth, which can’t be denied because it is there in our history, and then there is the exaggeration of truth for cinematic purposes. But there is no denying that what happened had happened,” said Tyrewala.
He mentioned that India’s power is in his secularism and thus it is important to show that balance. “So, the balancing act is even more now. There was never a time when I had to think of a dominating political ideology in the country. So now, I work and navigate through it all. The thing is I don’t want to escape from this… but I don’t want to cater to it too,” said Tyrewala. “Sometimes, there are two truths to everything. What I actually am, and what I am as a writer, and I have to balance both,” he added.
Meanwhile, on the work front, besides Pawan Kalyan and Bobby Deol’s film, Tyrewala is also working on War 2, which stars Hrithik Roshan, Jr NTR and Kiara Advani.
