When Bollywood cutie Imran Khan files a PIL in the Bombay High Court challenging Maharashtra government’s decision raising the legal age limit for consuming alcohol from 21 to 25 years, he is only one in a long list of actors who have embraced causes.
Ever since the master of mumbles, Marlon Brando, refused to accept his Oscar in 1973 for his performance in The Godfather and instead sent Sacheen Littlefeather to read out a speech to highlight the injustices heaped on Native Americans, actors have used their personal brands for advocacy and influence.
So you have Richard Gere clearing the path for Buddhism in some of the outer reaches of extreme decadence from Juhu to Los Angeles, Paul Newman peddling condiments for the disenfranchised, while Madonna and Angelina Jolie personally solve the crisis of the world’s needy children by adopting as many of them as they can and so on and so forth.
Bollywood too has been no slouch in the causerati stakes. My uncle Balraj Sahni and his wife Damayanti gave all the money they earned through films to their beloved Communist Party, Nargis and Sunil Dutt were tireless in their efforts to bring a smile to our fauji brethren, Raj Kapoor and Dilip Kumar supported Krishna Menon in his electoral campaign in Mumbai. Even Dev Anand displayed the courage of his convulsions by supporting the launch of a new right wing party post the Emergency, and of course Shabana Azmi slummed it in style for years when she fasted for housing for Mumbai’s homeless.
Today’s stars have also worn their hearts on their well-toned biceps: Salman Khan’s Being Human charity is reported to be doing a world of good, though its chief recipient appears to be the star himself who has undergone a change of image ever since its inception; Celina Jaitley’s brave and tireless campaign for gay rights has given star power to the cause, and Aishwarya Rai’s advocacy of eye donations has certainly imbued the movement with a gray-green glamour.
More worrying though is Bollywood’s recent tryst with Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption drive. You know things are going to go pear-shaped very soon when one-time ‘star’ and legend in his own lunchtime Raja Bundela jumps onto the bandwagon and begins to shout news anchors down.
And when Anupam and Kirron Kher become Hazare’s unofficial spokespeople with nary a whisper that Kirron is a paid up member of the BJP, things get very scary indeed. The upside of this age of 24x7 and breaking news is that we seem to have developed well-honed antennae that allows us to sift what is real and worthwhile from what is cynical and self-serving pretty quickly.
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Therefore when various film luminaries rub up against Hazare so that some of the sheen from his halo makes them glow, most people can see through their efforts without the help of new anchors and editorial commentators.
My thumb rule for ascertaining whether a star’s avowed commitment to a cause is sincere or fake is based on the simple rule of collateral damage: how much risk it involves, what they’re prepared to put on stake and what’s in it for them: Marlon Brando, Balraj Sahini, Dev Anand and Celina Jaitley took on causes that were hardly self-serving and placed their public image in jeopardy — the jury’s out about Bollywood’s recent outing with Hazare’s civil rights movement.
What does your antennae tell you about that?
Malavika Sangghvi is a Mumbai-based writer
malavikasangghvi@hotmail.com