Politics and cinema in the Indian context have had intrinsic relations.
In 1927, a questionnaire was sent to Mahatma Gandhi by the Indian Cinematograph Committee. A Bombay daily sought Gandhi’s message on the occasion of the 25th year of Indian cinema. Mahadev Desai, Gandhi’s secretary, responded that Gandhi had the least interest in cinema and a word of appreciation should not be expected.
However, Gandhi’s impact is evident in the work of many, from Dadasaheb Phalke to Aamir Khan. The films of V Shantaram, Mehboob Khan, Raj Kapoor, and, more recently, Vidhu Vinod Chopra, among others, dealt with the core themes of Gandhian ideology—non-violence, love and sacrifice, Hindu-Muslim unity, the rural-urban divide, rejection of crass commercialism, women’s emancipation, and fear of moral decay.
It was through their movies that Gandhi emerged as a towering moral force. While these filmmakers may not have imbibed his ideas consciously, their films revealed his influence.
Cut to the 1960s and Prithviraj Kapoor, the first Bollywood star to enter parliament as a nominated member. He was a staunch Congressman, a Jawaharlal Nehru confidant who staged plays highlighting the Nehruvian ideals of socialism and secularism at his Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai.
Nehru tapped Kapoor for “cultural diplomacy” and often asked him to lead delegations abroad. When Nehru met Joseph Stalin, the dictator kept asking him about Raj Kapoor and his movie Awara. Raj’s daughter Ritu quoted Nehru as later telling Kapoor: “What is this vagabond (Awara) that your son has made? Stalin was talking about it all the time.”
As member of parliament (MP), Kapoor stayed at Princess Park, not far from India Gate, in New Delhi. Every morning when parliament sessions were on, Kapoor would sit on the lawns and meet a range of visitors. He was president of the Central Railway Workers Union for four years and was widely credited with getting a 75% rail fare concession for stage artistes and other performers.
On one occasion, Kapoor had a spat with MS Golwalkar while travelling, just after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS, the parent body of most Hindu nationalist organisations, including prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP) ideologue was released from jail. The two had met at Khandala station, between Bombay (now Mumbai) and Pune. Some RSS supporters were chanting provocative slogans. Kapoor entered the compartment and gave Golwalkar a lecture on the need to rein in his acolytes.
“There is only one chair and so many want to sit on it. There is such a scramble for it that not only will many bones be broken but the chair itself will be smashed,” Kapoor spoke metaphorically, adding, “In politics, discipline is absolutely essential and your crowds are witness to the utter lack of it.”
Actress Zohra Sehgal, whose sister Uzma Mumtaz had been romantically linked to Kapoor, recalls how a mob had once threatened to stop a play, Pathan, at Prithvi Theatre.
No comments:
Post a Comment