Three things we Indians are crazy about are politics, cinema and Cricket. Of course, off late, cricket has been in various controversies including match fixing which has cast an impression of impurity on the sport which leaves us with only two holy things (apart from the cow) that draws an undivided attention from the people – politics and cinema.
Cinema has always been used as a propagating tool of political ideology. “Firaaq” and “Parzania” releasing just before the Gujarat Elections in 2009 is one such example. It is probably for the first time the medium of cinema is used by the state to glorify its limited scope. I mean, if you want to make a film on anyone, you are free to do it and if you want to make a movie on the two Prime Ministerial candidates, you have to be a little careful. Last week my eyes were bombarded with three trailers – a movie on the PM, a web series on the PM and an almost B-grade looking film on the Congress President.
https://youtu.be/X6sjQG6lp8s
After watching these trailers, I thought the documentary on Arvind Kejriwal was more interesting. You start to worry about the state of Indian Cinema when a documentary is more entertaining than a full fledged fantasy film. Yes, all those films seem to be a fantasy of the people in power. Well, it is their right to make a movie but I just hope that these films won’t cut their votes.
Talking about fantasy and power, the most fantastic actor and the most powerful actor in Bollywood is the one who is being human still, the superstar Salman Khan. Having survived all his films, I can safely say as a survivor, that his films are the best descriptors of the Indian elections. Who knew the big event of the Indian cinema (Khan’s movie) is so similar to the big event of the Indian democracy (Indian elections)?
Khan has been in the industry for over two decades and have been a part of plenty of forgetful yet mega successful films. Some of the films have bombed at the box office, some were good in parts and the rest bored us to death just like some of our governments. In some cases, the performances of governments have been better than Khan’s films.
How Do You Describe A Salman Khan Flick?
A film mostly about the masculine hero who fights to save the world. A film where the women have very little to do. A movie which promises to be a banger through its trailers and posters but ends up being a bore fest. Ironically, the Indian elections are no different.
A film, much like Indian democracy, ideally is a collaborative exercise where the individual contribution adds up to the larger picture making it look like a wholesome experience than the individual celebration. But a film involving Khan is all about himself looking into the camera (who else loves camera?), staring into the souls of the audience and telling him that they have just been fooled. Look at some of the so called national parties in the country. They have a face which is projected as the “Superhero” who would save the country from the evil (read as opposition parties) and would uphold the sovereignty of the state. The “Superhero” often comes across bigger than his/her party.
Both Khan and the “Superhero” have massive fan following. Die Hard fans as they would like to call them. Some actually have sacrificed their lives for their divine hero. If anything goes against their divine hero, like their hero himself, the fans would not mind to break the law. They are kind enough to acknowledge that the law exists but would not follow it.
If you look closely and objectively, the one important thing the “Superhero” and Khan share is their affair with crimes. Some small ones and few big ones as well.
People who adore Khan doesn’t bother to look at the trailers and the teasers before deciding to watch his films. They are the ones who decide to watch his films, share the trailer on all social media platforms and then watch the trailer. They are quite similar to those who vote for their “Superhero” without going through the manifesto of his/her party.
Manifesto of the popular parties is the biggest joke of the Indian Democracy just like the trailers of any superstar’s films. The only time these people bother to go through either the trailer or the manifesto is when a smaller player enters the system. Manifesto is to Indian elections what script is to Khan’s movies.
If I had to equate Khan’s films to Indian politics, the 2017 film ‘Tubelight’ which was as entertaining as KRK’s ‘Deshdrohi’ would be an apt film to get an insight into the life of Congress Party President. The film, much like Congress under RaGa, is all over the place. Noble, idiotic, repetitive and delusional.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) is like the 2014 film ‘Jai Ho’. To begin with, the posters of ‘Jai Ho’ had enough red to qualify as a communist film. Like Communism, on paper, as an idea, the film is as good as anything but the problem arrived when they decided to go ahead and shoot it. When I first saw the trailer of ‘Jai Ho’, I was intrigued but the moment I saw it on the big screen, it turned out to be just like any other Khan film. Another factor which makes me compare the film with CPI is that it was a remake.
The biggest blockbuster of Khan’s career ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’ is pretty much like the ruling party, BJP. If there was a mixture of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and any Sooraj Barjatya film, it would have been a perfect film for BJP. The ‘Bhaijaan’ is sure to hurt the supporters of the party who are reading it. Let’s just stick to Sooraj Barjatya film. Like all his films including the depression friendly ‘Prem Ratan Dhan Payo’, the BJP has lot of messaging in their politics. The messaging is largely about loving your culture, upholding your sentiments and respecting elders (Advani?). Have you noticed that none of Sooraj Barjatya’s films show a Muslim character or a LGBT character or a financially poor class? His films is all about the rich.
The bigger question here is, in spite of knowing how his films turn out, why do people still buy a ticket and watch his films? Why do people keep giving him an opportunity to prove his mediocrity?
Because a well packaged mediocrity always sells. Once every five years, the same mediocrity is packaged differently and is offered to us. The packaging appeals to us. We buy it. When we open the package to find out that it is the same mediocrity which we got the last time around, we don’t feel cheated. We don’t get passionate about it. We aren’t dejected. A sense of hope refills our souls and we whisper to ourselves, Apna Time Aayega.