A catchy movie title not only concisely captures the essence of the film but is also essential to hook the audience. With the success of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s 12th Fail highlighting the struggle of an aspirant to become a police officer, the title of Rohit Shetty’s first OTT experiment — Indian Police Force may also act as a first move tactic to immediately capture the audience’s imagination, but there is a problem — Indian police of independent India are not a ‘force’ but a ‘service’.
Police as a ‘Force’
In the colonial era, under the British, the police were regarded as an instrument of force, oppression and a tool to strike fear among the common men. Vikram Singh, former DGP, Uttar Pradesh in his earlier interview told The Indian Express, “Let me take you back to the year 1861. The Police Act of 1861 was programmed and designed to make the police an instrument of exploitation of the masses. The legacy of being repressive and extortionist was accompanied by lower salaries. So, corruption, unfortunately, got associated with the police service. It is often said, ‘Bad acha, Badnaam bura’ (A bad man is better than a bad name). We have inherited that reputation.”
IPS Renuka Mishra, DG/Chairperson of UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board in an earlier interview spoke about the police uniform as a symbol of force. “It is true, due to historical reasons, that the Indian police have always been seen as a symbol of power, force, coerciveness, and essentially the strong arm of the state instead of the strong arm of the law. Kings were replaced by the British and then in a democracy by the state. During British rule, barring the Superintendent of Police, who was British, the rest were Indians and were used by the British Raj to keep the public in check and in forced compliance with their directives, many of which were detrimental to the person, property, and dignity of the public. Some of the extreme sections of law being questioned today as colonial legacy were used by Indians in the police against fellow Indians at the behest of the British rulers. This laid the foundation for the police ethos and subculture. It will need considerable reform to shed this. Hence the khaki suffers from this legacy and was able to create a positive image in the minds of citizens of independent India possibly only in crises like disasters and pandemics”, says Mishra.
Police as a ‘Service’
The Indian Police Service or IPS, is one of the three All India Services of the Government of India. In 1948, a year after India gained independence from Britain, the Indian (Imperial) Police was replaced by the Indian Police Service. It was created under Article 312 (2) in part XIV of the Constitution of India.
The value of ‘service’ in both letter and spirit is best expressed on the website of the Indian Police Services (Central) Association: “The Indian Police Service is not a force itself but a service…”. Most importantly, the motto of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad reads, “Satya, Seva, Suraksha.” (Truth, Service, Security).
‘Service’ here is a shift from the colonial legacy of ‘force’ which is a reminder to the Indian police that they can discharge their duties with integrity if they have the spirit of ‘service’ to their nation and its people.
So what…
Film titles like books make an unavoidable impression which may directly affect the emotions and psychology of viewers. Hence it becomes important to choose them correctly especially if there is a evolutionary history to them and if the title is a job or career that inspires many young minds to join it, especially in a country like India where lakhs of aspirants dream to be an IPS officer every year. So, films that are seen as a source of inspiration, have to be ethically right, even with their titles.
Retired IPS Vikram Singh says, “The images of police officers portrayed in cinemas including in Dabbang and Singham are not the real images of a police officer. Nor are they what some officers on social media show it to you. That shouldn’t inspire you.”
So, to cut a story short, while Rohit Shetty’s idea to add the word ‘force’ in the title of his new series might suit his brand of filmmaking, it is not in line with the ethos of the Indian Police ‘Services’.
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