The new documentary Bhutto appears to be more a gift to those enamoured by Benazir Bhutto and the myth surrounding her, rather than a search for some semblance of truth. The documentary picks up on the Benazir-glorifying strands that have been circulating for decades, and weaves these into a tapestry that is biased in favour of the political and personal choices of Benazir Bhutto. There is a vast difference between the manner in which an icon such as Benazir is perceived in the West, particularly the US, and how she is seen in Pakistan. In Bhutto, the first visual account of Benazir's entire life, we are privy to a tale that glamorises her elite background; this could indicate that the film is targeted at a US audience, which tends to be more welcoming of romanticised stories of public figures, having had practice with the Kennedys. For the majority of Pakistan, however, the privileged life of the Bhuttos only serves to emphasise the gulf between elites like them and the rest of the country.
In the beginning of Bhutto, the viewer is introduced as a naive young girl attending Harvard, then going on to Oxford and holidaying in the south of France. It makes absurd and incongruous the comment, 'It is because of their sweat that you will be educated,' made by Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and quoted by her in the documentary, as he refers to workers toiling in a field. From such origins, it does not seem possible that Benazir could truly understand the plight of the people of Pakistan. Her close friends reveal trifling things about her such as, 'She loved having fun,' or that she once sent out a party invitation with the words 'Darling what would the party be without you' inscribed in gold. Such a depiction does not stray much from previous ones constructed by Benazir herself, such as in her autobiography, Daughter of the East.
Bhutto covers the era of Benazir's father's time in office, and portrays his larger-than-life personality with anecdotes such as him quipping with US President John F Kennedy that if he were an American he would be in his place in the Oval Office. We also see him ripping a resolution in half at a UN Security Council meeting, saying, 'Why do I need to waste my time here? I am going!' The film follows India going nuclear in 1974, and we see a feisty Zulfikar vowing, 'We will build the nuclear bomb even if we have to eat grass for 1000 years.' The rise of General Zia ul-Haq is also chronicled. The irony is that Zia, who would eventually have Zulfikar killed, was chosen as the chief of army staff because he seemed unassuming. A classic clip in the documentary shows Zia, well before he eventually imposed martial law, saying, 'We believe in freedom of thought, freedom of expression, freedom with consideration but not free for all!' Another iconic moment comes when Benazir yells, 'Jiye Bhutto!' (Long live Bhutto) into a megaphone at her wedding.
Moral responsibility
Duane Baughman (producer) and Johnny O'Hara (director), US-based filmmakers, enumerate Benazir's list of achievements but do not explore her personal politics. We do learn, however, that she had very little power and, in the eyes of some, could have been a mere puppet. This is not a novel view. Her success was short-lived because, in 1990, she was dismissed on corruption charges. In Bhutto we hear her blaming just about everyone for her downfall, including the Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and the then president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan. While the filmmakers touch on corruption charges against Benazir, they do not even attempt to reach a conclusion. Rather, Benazir's cronies are allowed to state such things as, 'This was a smear campaign', and Benazir herself denounces the charges against her as 'accusations and … lies'. There is not much room for factual deduction; instead, viewers are left with what we always had – one party claiming there was corruption, the other claiming there was not.