“I want to play a game”
- -John “The Jigsaw” Killer
Well not too many Indians are actually familiar with these lines, nor are they familiar with the term of the Jigsaw killer. Yet we witness some of the most violent crimes being committed against innocent children in an upwardly mobile state which constitutes a part of the national capital region of the country.
The Jigsaw killer has been made famous by the SAW series, a set of Hollywood flicks divulges into the mind of a serial psychotic killer who believes that if his prisoners can survive a game that consist of traps that border brutality and gore, they will truly realize their purpose in life and live life the way it is supposed to be lived.
The reason why most people might be unaware of this movie and the contents of this fictional character in India is because the movie will never have the audacity to cross the twisted censor board headed by S (and I forlornly imitate Kafka) and the group of parents who fear that watching such “immoral” movies will inspire their children to tread onto a path that will enlighten the demons trapped inside an angelic mind and body.
This is the modern India which we live in. It is really disheartening to see the word “democracy” can only be used by a group of people who have been entrusted to lead the country that is supposedly growing, glowing and gushing in development every single day. Sorry, to burst the bubble of happiness but the ground reality is something else, similar to what it is in almost every country scattered all across the world. The dark side always exists in conjunction with the light, it is upto humanity to decide which side to believe and usher in.
The nascent videogame industry in our darling country has been made target recently in the wake of preventing the future generations from taking or experiencing any form of violence, yet we see that the number of crimes are increasing by leaps and bounds and the gaming industry is being made butt end of the target and it is this infant that is presumed to strike terror in the hearts of the younger generations.
And I happen to know exactly how it happened. S has two grandchildren from her son’s first marriage, who after delivering a number of duds in an industry catering to 3.6 billion people decides to screw around with a girl who is much younger in every possible way and starts to neglect his own children. So Grandma and Grandpa (who is a king) decide to gift the kids a Sony PlayStation 2 on their grandson’s birthday, they also let the 10 year old grandson pick a game of his choice. The grandson named Z has experienced the delirious heights of R*’s controversial yet abysmal game Manhunt 2 on his friends console whose father is a leading producer in Bollywood. He tells his grandparents that he wants the very same game for its levels of surrealism, so grandpa calls his friend returning from the U.S of A to pick this game up. The grandson on receiving the game happily and merrily hacks and slaughters virtual beings on screen.
Next morning there is an article in a newspaper that believes gossip and Page3 parties make headlines prints something about this game being banned in the UK. The father suddenly remembers that his son has been addicted to the game and decides to call Mommy up and asks her to do something about it, cause he does not want his son to get inspired from the game and hack his pretty lass one fine morning with a meat cleaver. Mommy S gets petrified and worried and calls a meeting consisting of the same members who choose India’s Oscar entry. They decide to go on a banning spree and draft out a proposal that will regulate content of “official” games released in India.
Thus the story begins and the I&B ministry in conjunction with the health and moral ministry will debate about this all important bill in the parliament and will leave midway because of irreconcilable differences, costing the Indian exchequer millions of rupees in the process. Oh yeah the flick SAW is available at the closest grey-market in your city, just like an original version of Assassin’s Creed that will never be launched in India, guess the panel has this angle figured out already and viewer discretion is advised for the movie since it is rated R.
In Marilyn Manson’s own words, “Freedom’s not free anymore, this is the suppression age…”
–Neelesh Mukherjee