Column

We’re the world’s largest democracy and also the world’s largest film industry. Not surprisingly, there’s a lot common between our films and our politics. For starters, both are loud and larger than life with lots of melodrama and dialogue-baazi. This year we even saw a veteran politician challenging a soft-spoken prime minister into a TV debate with the same fervour of a vintage Dharmendra at his angriest: “Apne maa ka doodh piya hai to samne aa.” Of course, little did the volatile politician realise that times have changed and people are no longer enthused by loud histrionics but would’ve preferred him to just coolly articulate his plan of action for the country than indulge in what could’ve looked on TV like a classic confrontation scene straight out of an 80s’ Bollywood blockbuster – all sound and no substance!

Politicians, like film-makers, have a target audience. There are politicians who are keen on being projected as national-level leaders and there are those who’d rather focus on their vote-bank in a particular state. Just the way there are film-makers who make full-blown masala films aimed to appeal to the aam janta in every town and village of India and there are those happy to cater just to the multiplex or overseas audience.

While film-makers hope to woo the audience by roping in a friendly superstar for a cameo or an item number in their films, politicians use film stars to spice up their election campaigns. Similarly, politicians stoke the flames of controversy through provocative statements that can turn a fledgling politician into a potential leader and film-makers do the same by planting controversial stories in the media that can generate enough buzz to turn a seemingly obscure flop into a runaway hit.

But, lastly, the most interesting similarity between Indian politics and Bollywood is the way both its denizens react to failure – by refusing to give credit to the intelligence of the common man! As we’ve already seen after the recent elections, most losing politicians are blaming everything and everybody – from bad weather to reckless rivals – for their defeat instead of admitting that the electorate proved smarter than them. Just like film-makers, who go into denial mode after a dismal performance at the box office by saying their film was ahead of its times or blame it all on poor marketing. Both will dish out incomprehensible statistics when faced with failure.

In short, mostly neither is rooted in reality.