A George Clooney who took positions on Darfur or the many actors from Hollywood who stood up to George Bush will not happen here. Are they afraid of something? Or are they worried that they will sound shallow? It is not as if the film industry does not have smart people; perhaps the ones who have views are afraid they will be singled out for hostility.
Should filmstars get involved in politics? It may seem like an odd question, considering that there are so many from the film industry in Parliament – representing many parties – but while we are used to filmy MPs, most of them tend to keep a discreet silence. Who remembers a scintillating speech or even a statement about current affairs?
From 1984 onwards, when Amitabh Bachchan was given a ticket by his friend Rajiv Gandhi, the glamour crowd has been wooed by political parties and vice versa. Younger readers may not recall Dipika Chikhalia and Nitish Bharadwaj, who acted in mythological serials on television and became one term MPs, but others, like Dharmendra, Hema Malini, Vinod Khanna and Shatrughan Sinha are better known. Then there are Babul Supriyo, Mithun Chakraborty and Moon Moon Sen.
The Congress had MPs like Govinda and Rajesh Khanna, both of whom remained in the shadows, though Sunil Dutt was a minister and quite an active social worker.
No discussion on film industry denizens in politics can be complete without the originals i.e. MG Ramachandran, NTR, Jayalalitha and Karunanidhi, who was a script writer. In the southern states, film stars had not just a larger than life image – see the cut outs – but they also used their films to build up a persona. MGR was seen as a fighter for the underdog, NT Rama Rao played various Gods on screen. Their screen image won them supporters who voted them into power. For years now, there has been a demand that Rajanikanth join politics, but he has chosen to stay away.
In the India of today, there are several film star MPs, but also, many from the industry who are out there, commenting on politics. Anupam Kher is among the more prominent ones. He is quite happy to appear on television talking about the day’s news and recently he took out a protest march to protest against those who spoke of intolerance. After the march he got an appointment with the Prime Minister at short notice; it helps if your wife is an MP from the ruling party. Since then, Kher has been very vocal, and most recently has been critical of Aamir Khan’s statement about fears of rising intolerance.
Khan of course is largely apolitical, though he occasionally makes a foray into issues that might appear “controversial”. He sided with the groups protesting outside Jantar Mantar demanding justice for the Narmada dam oustees—as a consequence he got a lot of flak, especially in Gujarat, and his film ‘Fanaa’ was unofficially banned.
Aamir’s show Satyamev Jayate too got a lot of people riled – doctors were upset at one such programme about malpractices in the medical industry. And now he is facing flak for his comment about rising intolerance in the country and a discussion he apparently had with his wife who asked whether they would have to leave India for the sake of their child.
Shah Rukh Khan too got a lot of hate mail and trolling for his ever so gentle comment that intolerance was increasing. Strangely, Anupam Kher supported Shah Rukh Khan but has been critical of Aamir Khan. Be that as it may, what is clear is that while it is okay for film stars to be “in politics”, i.e. join a party, they are expected to do nothing more than look pretty. They should not open their mouth and if they do, it is to express the most banal of platitudes. Whether it is Shah Rukh Khan or Aamir Khan or indeed Kher, all of them are also citizens and thinking individuals; why should they not express their opinions freely?
Indeed, more and more public spirited citizens – whichever field they belong to – speaking up should be welcomed. We often complain that high profile people stay away from engagement with current affairs. Whether it is film stars or businessmen, no one wants to go on record about any issue, even if mildly controversial, because they don’t want to attract attention to themselves. They tend to stick to safe subjects – actors are very happy to associate themselves with health campaigns, which is good – but won’t talk about anything that they think will be contentious.
A George Clooney who took positions on Darfur or the many actors from Hollywood who stood up to George Bush will not happen here. Are they afraid of something? Or are they worried that they will sound shallow? It is not as if the film industry does not have smart people; perhaps the ones who have views are afraid they will be singled out for hostility.
During the recent strike of FTII students, not many came out openly in their support. But soon after, as the award wapsi trend picked up, many joined in and returned their awards. They were standing up for their beliefs. It remains to be seen how their colleagues react in the long term—will they be slowly sidelined and find that they don’t get work? Perhaps, perhaps not. But at least they have shown their willingness to stick their necks out.
Aamir Khan is one of them and while we can debate his views and criticise him too, it must be acknowledged that he has stood up for his beliefs. That is the hallmark of a good citizen in a democracy.