Cinema&Politics--what's the story?

Politics can be seen as a Dramatic cinema shot in real time,and thanks to electronic media today politicians are turning into actors .And actors play cunning politicians(most of the times) on screen.Except for this,as a objective observer I can't see a parallel between politics and cinema as separate professions.But Indian politics has a whole lot to offer for actors today,we can see the trend for the last couple of decades starting with MGR , NTR in the south and Bachans,Jayapradha,etc in North India.

Why do political parties seek their involvement in the first place?
The reality in Indian politics where winnability is the only criteria for getting a party ticket and winnability doesn't depend on ability,honesty,integrity(absolute basic for public office),these people have a fair chance of winning.The popularity they posses with the people is the prime reason as among other things like caste,money,etc explains a lot.This removes the entry barrier for a actor/actress in current political system.They are crowd Magnets for the political parties and people come to rallies to get a glimpse of a person they can only see on screen normally,not to listen to what they have to say(It doesn't matter really say because nobody cares).

But why do actors/actress go for politics???
All the Actors and actresses have a expiry date after which they can't sustain especially for actresses due to the glamour quotient.The next best option,in fact better option considering the whole package of fame along with real power it offers.(what a retirement package sir ji :-)).Most seek the easy way(Rajya Sabha)and those who can't get that go for hard way(Elections).

Having said that let's analyse why actors command such popularity in India.Especially in south India they are called Hero(instead of actor) and Heroine(instead of actress).This says something about how people see them.They command demi god status and in Tamil Nadu people go to extent of building temples for Rajnikanth,kushbu(sorry gods).I can see few reasons for this.Cinema is well marketed in south India better than cricket in the initial years.Cinema in a part of life in Rural south.Apart from entertainment they give they also provide role models(a uneducated person doesn't know about Gandhi,Nehru to have them as role models)And we Indians are generally Hero worshippers(be it Rama or Sachin) and we tend to project our aspirations and expectations on to the silver screen and dream of ourself having that colourful and perfect life.They are youth icons,Trend setters,fashion icons what not.This fanatic fan fare is on a declining trend.It is almost impossible to command such devotion that people like NTR,MGR commanded in those days,So it is hard to imagine some actor today even the superstar of India Rajnikanth(He tried By supporting BJP)who can sweep the political system of its foot like NTR did in 1984 (Well tried chiru in AP).

I personally feel most actors come in to politics with good intentions,but intentions isn't the only thing that matters.This  people enter politics with cinematic notions about what to do,and get disillusioned after that.They lack the understanding of ground realities as well as the patience to pursue the people's problems.That's why we see many actors not contesting for second term and sometimes loosing if they did.They also get deceived by the crowds at their rallies and count them into their kitty of voters(happened with our honourable Union minister Chiranjeevi).

This phenomenon is not unique to India.We can see Ronald Reagan,actor turned politician becoming 40th President of USA,Similarly Arnold schwarzenegger becoming Governor of California.So after all its not a Desi thing(shaat).

We can also say that this symbiotic relationship is not unique for cinema.popular people have a expressway paved for them into politics.We can see this with cricket(Kaif,Gambhir),music,athletes,retired bureaucrats & generals and even good for nothing celebrities like Rakhi sawanth(seriously she has a political party).

Is it a good phenomenon?the history gives us a hung jury.We can say that they can add diversity to parliamentary proceedings(If they open their mouth in the house or even attend it) and policy making.Some like NTR in AP could bring in pro people policies like ban on alcohol,rs 2/kg rice,etc.But such people are hard to find these days.
Let's not give up hope and expect a more mature role of this class of people in the future.

Blame game-people or politicians or both

In the largely diverse India and with its people and their divergence of views on just about every issue,If there is one issue upon which there is unanimous( i dare say) consensus,that is the murky state of our political system and the people who are riding it.It doesn't matter whom u ask,the articulation may differ from complex jargon s like crony-ism to informal slangs like 'chor ka raj'.But the crux of the opinion will be the same.

Who is to be blamed for this state of affairs,The British??!! or Pakistan??.They would have been blamed with 200% correlation if they had slightest bit to do with our politics.Unfortunately for our people and the politicians its not the case, they in fact have if anything improved our political unity before 1947(Brits) and after 1947(pakistan) by bringing the nation together.Then who is to be blamed for this??

We didn't begin this way.we were blessed with some of the finest statesmen and politicians of the century.Thanks to the values developed during freedom struggle and the personal conviction of our leaders towards democracy and belief in capacity of people,they took a very daring leap of faith and gave right to vote to all the people majority of whom were illiterate,poor,hungry,.It paid of and we survived the dangerous few years after independence of a developing country,when democracy is at risk of being undermined by elite.

The gems of the golden era were retiring and they failed to train next generation of politicians.Here started actual problem.People who are supposed to hold the representatives accountable didn't develop the capacity to do so.And the politicians started toying with people by providing them with short term inducements compromising the long term interests of the people.Who needs education right when we can have a fan and a laptop.It reminds me the difference between a good father and bad father.A good father takes tough calls and doesn't pamper a child,doesn't spoon feed the child and make the kid lazy.A bad father gives a kid what ever he wants and makes him lazy but happy,that pampered kid doesn't learn anything and he will regret it later.Unfortunately most kids love bad fathers because of their ignorance,likewise most people in our country vote for the candidates who give them the candy.(kids are kids)

But who made the masses this bunch of ignorant kids??Isn't it the politicians who are supposed to act like good fathers to empower people by providing education,health,jobs rather than laptops,TV,few kilos of rice.
I wonder how congress party which ruled the nation for eternity still have the nerves to claim credit for giving 65% people subsidized rice and publicise it as if it is an indicator for its succesfull governance,if anything its and indicator for its failure of govts for the last 67 years.

Lets come to people's share of the blame.It is not the poor,illiterate part of the masses that are the actual problem.The urban middle class who doesn't have 1 hour of their precious  time for every five years to go to polling booth in their A/C car to cast their vote,But have tons of time
to be cynical about everything in politics.These people are the real part of the problem.It is said that "The price the wise pay for not being part of the governance is to suffer under the tyranny of the fools"-Unknown :P.These people donot enter politics because politics currently are dirty.The politics are dirty because these wise donot enter politics.Its a vicious circle.But the circle should be broken now and now itself.

The reasons can be many and endless.But we can comfortably say that both the masses and the politicans are to blamed for the the state of affairs.But i personally think the buck should stop at the politicians.While people have self interest in the goodness of the system,the politicians have a added responsibility and duty towards people.Politics is a Divine profession and those who have the divine intensions only have the right to be called so and enjoy the respect they seek.

Jai Hind.