It happens only in India

A Dalit woman in Perumbavoor, Kerala is raped and murdered. How many of you are aware of it? With Assembly Elections round the corner in the southern state of India, political parties are busy trying to make political capital out of this inhuman act.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh says, “The rape and murder indicate that the Kerala government (run by the Congress party) was trying to cover up the incident as it took days to register the case." And he adds that the Central Government is ready for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. Better late than never, is all you can say. Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, slated to be a future resident of 7, Race Course Road, New Delhi is initially silent but then anticipating the repercussions, promises ‘swift action’ to punish the guilty. Well, he had to be calculative. After all it’s is his party that is in power in Kerala.  Our very own Pradhan Mantri Narendra Modi is more focused on making an emotional appeal to the people of Tamil Nadu to give the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a chance to serve them. But quite astutely, he chooses his first election rally in Kerala to refer to the brutal rape of the girl. The motive is simple: Queer the pitch for the Congress-led UDF government. Politicians mean politics.

But does anyone seriously sympathise with the mother of the law student in Kerala whose daughter was brutally killed in her own backyard? No. There is too much on the platter. We are busy keeping ourselves updated on the Hrithik Roshan vs Kangana Ranaut war. We are glued to the TV to find out who nails who in the AugustaWestland chopper scam. And the whistle-blower on corruption Subramanian Swamy is hell bent on ‘ensuring’ that the truth on the chopper scam is unveiled. He is a man on a mission busy targeting his friend-turned-foe Sonia Gandhi.

Look around and up the web. How many stories or opinion pieces do you come across on the rape of the Dalit woman in Kerala? It has not even created as much of an impact as the Nirbhaya rape case (2012) in Delhi did. Why should it? There are so many important stories to keep a tab on.  Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma have reportedly patched up.  Salman Khan is the goodwill ambassador for the Indian contingent in the Rio Olympics. And Sunny Leone is making news with her film One Night Stand.

Who cares? But isn’t it something we have got used to? The media calculates and then jumps on to a story. The moment, something more saleable (a quote by Modi or Mamata Banerjee) comes up, the humiliation of a woman is relegated to the background.

And to give you a piece of information another woman in Kerala was raped to follow the  the murder of the Dalit woman. However, as the West Bengal chief minister, Mamatadi said on the infamous Park Street rape case,   “It’s a sajano ghotona (stage-managed incident),” don't be taken aback if someone toes her line.

There is a plethora of cases of violence against women. Even kids are not spared. But how much of them we come to know of? The parents of the girl in Kamduni in West Bengal are crying. Nirbhaya’s parents have lost their daughter. But we bloggers, the media and our trusted political leaders have a vested interest in their sufferings. Let’s get an exclusive story out of an assault. Let’s look for a different angle to cover an incident of a rape. And let’s try to ensure that we  score brownie points over our opposition parties at a time when we are going to the polls. Such is our mindset and we still expect the triple Talaq system to be abolished.

Such is the state of affairs that dignified women bear the brunt for being vocal enough against the injustice meted out to them at their work place. And we still talk of reservation of women in the Parliament.
In a country where a woman is asked to unbutton her jeans in front of an elected Member of Parliament called Sakshi Maharaj (apparently he wanted to know where exactly she was injured), you can only say, “It happens only in India.”

Bring it on King!

Fan hasn’t really set the box-office on fire. Maneesh Sharma’s film that has Shah Rukh Khan playing a double role after ages, created ripples initially, yet it hasn’t quite lived up to the expectations. Quite justifiably, a die-hard SRK fan is disappointed. After the 'debacle' of Dilwale (by his standards), Shah Rukh desperately needed a blockbuster.

But then, there are some positives Shah Rukh can take home from Fan. It may have failed to rake it in, but Shah Rukh, as an actor has rediscovered himself. Both critics and audiences cannot stop praising his performance in the film. In one sense, Fan’s failure could be a blessing in disguise for King Khan. There is a reason why. If we look back, SRK has always chosen the conventional path to success i.e. box-office glory.

Fans have been enamoured of his larger-than-life image which at times seems to have overshadowed his potential as an actor. Trained under the famous theatre personality Barry John, Shah Rukh comes from a different school of thought unlike his peers like Salman Khan and Aamir Khan. Yet, time and again, his superstar image outshines his acting. The writer recollects a speech by SRK, probably at an awards ceremony, where he in his own way took on people who never took him seriously as an actor. But isn’t he himself to be blamed?

Films like Duplicate, Chamatkar, English Babu Desi Mem, Om Shanti Om, Happy New Year and Chennai Express are forgettable ones though some of them did well at the box-office. Even a Kuch Kuch Hota Hai failed to bring home the point that here is a megastar who is an accomplished actor as well. But ironically even within the stereotyped mainstream format, Shah Rukh has explored variety, be it the anti-hero in Baazigar, Darr and Anjaam or the romantic hero in Dilwale Dulhanya Le Jaayenge and Dil Toh Pagal Hai. Unfortunately, these films too cashed in on SRK, the megastar. He hasn’t really explored his full acting potential, has he?

Three films have looked beyond his stardom: Swades, Veer Zara and Chak De! India. The mannerisms missing, the audiences bumped into an unknown Shah Rukh. The movies may not have earned him crores, but when he looks back, they would figure on his Top 5 list for sure. Fan’s average showing should be an alarming call for Shah Rukh. Competing with the other Khans is not going to work. Let us admit that there is a Salman wave. Anything he does is working at the box-office. SRK has a different image than Salman’s and he certainly is aware of that. Fans would like to see him in roles that would do justice to his acting prowess.

Perhaps, he is seeing the writings on the wall. And this is the reason why he has picked directors like Rahul Dholakia (Raees), Gauri Shinde, Anand L. Rai and Imtiaz Ali. Rai’s film will have him playing a dwarf, a role rejected by Salman, as per reports. These makers are known to make films with substance. The fact that they have zeroed in on a megastar like Shah Rukh raises hopes for his talents being fully explored. SRK has reached the zenith of stardom. It is now time for him to start a new innings. It is also time to bid adieu to those outstretched hands and focus on métier roles. Substance should matter and not size.

Amitabh Bachchan during the height of his superstardom did films many of which could be rejected by the current crop of moviegoers. That was the seventies when the concept of middle-of-the-road cinema wasn’t even born. With time, Big B has changed tracks doing films like Black, Paa and Piku. Gone are the days of pathetic duds like Toofan, Jaadugar, Lal Badshah, Aaj Ka Arjun, Akayla, Insaniyat and Indrajeet in the eighties and nineties.

Look at Ajay Devgan! He has also experimented with Zakhm, Raincoat, The Legend of Bhagat Singh and Drishyam that catapulted him to the status of a versatile actor. Even Akshay Kumar rediscovered himself in phases with Sangharsh, Special 26 and Airlift that had powerful stories to boast. The obsession with BO glory may boomerang on Shah Rukh. Even a King Khan fanatic wants him to take a different route.

Yes, he still remains a big star (if not the biggest star in the country) whose aura is unprecedented. But beyond that, there is an actor who deserves to attain greatness. If his hardcore critics are busy writing his obituary, hold it. You may love him, hate him, but you can never ignore a SHAH RUKH KHAN. Fan has opened a new chapter in SRK’s career. He must reap the benefits out of it.

Family Matters

Have you ever imagined Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) without Lalu Prasad Yadav or Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) sans M Karunanidhi? Can we even think of Samajwadi Party (SP) without its Netaji Mulayam Singh Yadav? It is a foregone conclusion that the names of these stalwarts are synonymous with their respective parties.  And this brings us to Trinamool Congress (TMC). What is TMC without Mamata Banerjee?

So is TMC going the DMK way? You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to perceive that the only person who matters to TMC’s supporters is the West Bengal chief minister. Had it not been so, she wouldn’t have had to tirelessly travel the length and breadth of the state to campaign for her party. “I am the candidate in all the 294 constituencies,” she says over and over again.

Didi as she is fondly called still has the conviction she will return to Nabanna, the government headquarters after May 19. Yes, Mamata still trusts the clout she wields with her Manush (people). It’s the Mamata magic that brought her to power making the Left Front bite the dust in the 2011 Assembly Elections. However, it’s a different scenario now. Saradha, Narada, Vivekananda Flyover collapse, widespread violence, lack of industrial developments--- these are key issues which have been lapped up by her opponents (read Left Front, Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party) to show her the exit door. And even a staunch TMC supporter knows that it’s only Mamata Banerjee who can bail the party out of this mess. Her desperation as noticed during the campaigns proves how lonely she is at the top.

Imagine a scenario--- Didi decides to quit politics and passes on the mantle to one of her trusted lieutenants. In that case, a party inundated with factional feuds would fall like a pack of cards. The second rung of leaders in the party, even in their wildest dreams cannot emulate their supremo’s achievements over the years. Who will succeed Mamata? Mukul Roy? Subrata Mukherjee? Firhad Hakim? Shovon Chattopadhyay? One bets the answer is NO.

No TMC leader gets even close to Mamata’s determination and zeal to save a sinking ship. The answer is simple: they have got used to the cushy life of riding piggyback on their leader’s charisma. However, if anyone is to be blamed for this complacency in the party, it is none other than Mamata herself. Since the party’s inception in 1997, she has called the shots giving others little opportunities to come out of her shadow. Mukul fell out with her after being interrogated by the Central Bureau of Investigations over the Saradha scam, but all his efforts to form an outfit outside TMC came a cropper. Despite trying to woo parties like Congress and BJP, the Rajya Sabha member had no other choice than finding solace in Didi’s camp. There are talks in the political circle that Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee is her deputy. But isn’t he a kid politically? It would take him years to step into her aunt’s shoes, especially in a party where there is no dearth of ambitious aspirants just waiting for the right time to grab a chance to rise in the ranks.      

Mulayam may be a proud father to his son and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, but the patriarch of the Yadav family is aware of how Akhilesh is a privileged one, enjoying the benefits of being his son. Look at Shiv Sena: Late Bal Thackeray’s son Uddhav is still trying to figure out his party’s vision in the absence of his father. If you thought, MK Stalin is the worthy successor to the Karunanidhi heritage, you were dreaming. Karunanidhi (92) with a fragile health is contesting in the Tamil Nadu elections. Lalu may be trying hard to promote his son Tejaswi Yadav, a political novice, yet the latter has a long way to go.

The problem with these parties is that their leaders cannot trust anybody outside the family. You just need the surname and automatically you walk down the corridors of power. Lalu ensured his wife Rabri Devi replaced him as the Bihar chief minister after he had to quit over the Fodder scam. Mamata too, couldn’t look beyond his nephew. In a strong democracy like India, personality driven politics is always on a sticky wicket unless the protégés are groomed properly. Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Ajit Singh would have joined hands with Nitish Kumar had the former's son Jayant Choudhary been projected as the face of the yet-to-be formed party in the Uttar Pradesh polls next year. Incidentally, the RLD leader is now trying to bridge his gap with  BJP. Doesn’t this answer the question? But this family bias can boomerang.

The late Rajiv Gandhi’s desperation to succeed her mother Indira Gandhi as the Prime Minister after the latter’s assassination backfired. Rajiv’s immaturity and lack of faith in honest colleagues like VP Singh not only broke the Congress party, but also threw him out of power in the 1989 General Elections. Rajiv’s widow and Congress president, Sonia Gandhi is biding her time before she lets her son Rahul take over. Just imagine, even a party like Congress with a strong organizational structure and credible faces has to fall back upon the Gandhi dynasty.

Political pundits would see a sense of insecurity in the likes of Mamata, Lalu and others. And they are not wrong. But in a democratic set up, only he who has the vision and farsightedness to choose his successor is a successful leader. Insecurity is a bane as the saying goes, “Confidence is silent. insecurities are loud.” And these leaders personify it.