Netflix India’s promo featuring a fictional celebration of Diwali in Sohra, known to non-locals at Cherrapunjee, has not struck the right sort of cord with the people of Meghalaya, at least the Twitterati section of the state.
The video has been doing the rounds on social media since it was released on October 21 but for all the wrong reasons. Firstly, the video has strongly been criticised for the false representation of how Sohra celebrates Diwali. Many have opined that this advertisement falsely depicts the state and the people, especially Sohra, and how the creators have failed to understand the North East altogether.
According to Gertrude Lamare, “this Sohra in your ad doesn’t really exist. Cheers for getting it wrong, again!”
Mike Sangma, co-founder of Porkipine, criticised the advertisement and called it obnoxious.
“Found this Netflix Diwali commercial way bit odd and inconsistent with the current trend of encouraging vernacular languages in the country! Or the definition of mother tongue only means Hindi????” Sangma stated in his Facebook post. He also questioned how authentic it is to have a Khasi person from Sohra speak in such fluent Hindi.
Sangma added, “How are creative directors from Mumbai/Delhi being given such a vast and ignorant creative canvas to think that they know the region and let them get away with such crass yet such socially significant implication ads?”
“What sort of cultural and religious homogenising is this? Please check your facts and stop promoting such propaganda,” theatre artist Lapdiang Syiem said on Instagram.
Filmmaker and long-term Shillong resident Tarun Bhartiya tweeted, “Khasi Hills merely a backdrop – with wrong festival, wrong name, wrong dress, wrong accent, wrong language – (everything f***ing wrong) @netflixindia dances to Hindu India Tune”.
Another filmmaker, Utpal Borpujari, called it a “sentimental, ‘one-India’ ad” that is “tone deaf” to the people and even the weather of Sohra is concerned.
His criticism revolved around the difference between actual religious practice (the area is predominantly Christian) and that shown in the ad (Hindu), the misrepresentation of the people creating rangolis, myth of ever-present rain in Sohra and problem with the name of Cherrapunjee.
“Just putting some actors from NE does not absolve filmmakers from the crime of not doing enough research on the region,” Borpujari said on social media.
In another social media post, general secretary of the Khasi Students Union (KSU), Donald Thabah, condemned the ad. He wrote, “Diwali is the festival of lights, Netflix India should shed the correct lightings on our tribe, our customs, our beliefs and our aspirations. Don’t be misled by pseudo-Indian elements.”
