Dynastic Politics & Bollywood
Two hotly debated subjects – Dynastic politics and Bollywood - compelled me to share my thoughts.
All humans wish their children to follow in their footsteps, become their inheritors (not just assets) and become bigger, better names than themselves.
Science talks of DNA, Genes etc and let us not fight that. History has seen musicians, sportsmen, scientists, academics, managers, etc - you name it and there are many who have followed their parents, built upon it, and grown. It is the reality of life. A Tata progeny leading Tata’s, a Rishab Premji leading Wipro or a Roshni taking over HCL or an Amaan/Ayaan Ali Khan or Mohinder Amarnath, many others are often celebrated without question.
In business, sports, music and such the progeny do get extra opportunities, but Bollywood and Politics get criticised for a reason.
For those who want to quibble on this issue, please check these links – life is all about “nepotism” historically and globally in every field.
https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/celebs/g12198161/celebrities-with-famous-parents/
https://www.businessinsider.in/11-athletes-who-have-a-famous-parents/articleshow/70299178.cms
Read about this father/son duo and a study on the issue to understand and realise that children do tend to follow parents.
https://bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12909-015-0354-x
A personal anecdote. 30 years back, a friend was trying to get into one of the most coveted jobs in India and our Professor was on the selection committee. He reached the final interview stage but did not get selected. When our Professor heard about it, he asked – why didn’t he tell me? We said we did not know but likely he did not want to put you in a difficult position. He smiled and said – “you think I would have influenced the decision? All I would have done is state that I personally knew a particular candidate and did not want to be a part of that interview panel. I am sure he would have got in”. Such is life in real. Contacts, Names, Titles, Parentage help open doors for everybody so let us not think only some are guilty of this. Nepotism as we like to term it is a real and present reality.
Read from a dictionary definition point of view, in many cases the influence parents wield on their children getting opportunities does not become nepotism. Anybody who has seen life will know that every child based on who the parents are starts with an advantage, an opening, an extra opportunity. Most of us have done that but prefer to call it “influence” when it comes to their own children.
My concern is with the broad nepotism brush that Bollywood and Politics are smeared with, but we obfuscate the REAL concern and never solve the problem.
So, WHAT is the real concern? And this is most stark in Bollywood and Politics.
It is the definition by birth right the inheritance to a position, a chair, a title whatever you chose to call it. The progeny of an actor or politician cannot start life as an actor/politician and earn their spurs the hard way by public acceptance, success, hard work etc. They must inherit the mantle of hero/leader/ Chief Minister/ Prime Minister or whatever. They have to start their life at the top, never at the bottom or even the middle. They start life by never seeing life itself, never learning anything, never experiencing anything and live their lives in a delusion so to speak and remain in that delusion. The more inner circle you are, the more the system ensures that it covers up for you and keeps you on an artificial high. The public is made to believe, in a planned manner, that the delusion is the reality.
Even this would have been “acceptable” so to speak if the intent was to maintain that delusional halo for that special person living in a bubble. In reality to ensure that this privileged bubble can never burst, the system BURSTS every small hope of dream, opportunity of others, so that the privileged bubble is never seen as a bubble. XX is the best in Bollywood because the public is not allowed to see anybody else to compare.
The price for an outsider’s dream and hard work to NOT be destroyed is VERY HIGH. It is by catering to a “I am God” complex of the cabal that rules the industry. The favours demanded can be anything from mildly sexual to the insanely criminal. Like the mafia – you can join but you cannot leave. If you are good and do not join, you will be forced to leave. You need to sign the Omerta code in blood – literally.
A Bollywood that makes hundreds of films, you would think that one actor even if talented cannot be a threat to anybody. Wrong. The moment the audience have a comparison, they can react to the entrenched talent. That is why there is a concerted effort to finish/ stop any talent that is not aligned to their own ecosystem. The moment the newcomer for any reason agrees to be a part of that private ecosystem they are then used as needed to further the cause of the cabal. Over time they can grow to be their own masters, play their own games, have their own slave system as one can call it and the cabal will cover your back.
The industries own – the dynasts – not only get protected from failure but from the favours demanded. Just observe the tweets or social media comments of all those who you think are the insiders, the entrenched. You rarely see dissent. If for reasons political one needs to show dissent, then they balance it with a spouse or parent or sibling who will toe the industry cabal line.
Result is that even the faintest threat by a talent – the options are clear – conform, obey, follow – or be ready to be finished off. This negative action is what drives many a youngster to either conform or in cases like that of Sushant Singh – even commit suicide.
When you read this report below what strikes you most is – would you dear reader continue to be a friend of someone like Headley after observing the behaviour, talk as explained here?
This is not about judging the guilt/innocence of Rahul Bhat but to show how they skate on thin ice all the time. They truly do not believe the ice is thin. Remember Sanjay Dutt? How many will suddenly get this urge to go have automatic guns at home because you are afraid? Is that how normal people think? It is this “I am god” attitude that is the crux of the issue in Bollywood.
It is this kind of nepotism which is far beyond the simple act of promoting one’s own child or a friend’s that is destroying the industry slowly like cancer. It requires that one perfect moment for the flood gates to open. That seems to be slowly happening and time will tell the answers.
Owing to the money, favours, deals involved which often affect the nation including its security politicians prefer to trust their own and in India it is the family or a special aide. In the process the trusted aide or family also enter politics and aspire to become leaders in their own right.
Indian Politics unlike Bollywood is open, is the mother of all reality shows. You can strike deals, sleep around and do a lot more but not without prying eyes. The more popular, higher up you are in the pecking order, the more you are exposed. Even a lowly corporator needs to mingle with so many citizens daily that there is no smokescreen of a choreographed first day first show, retake, make up man etc. The Indian politician is there in your face and one momentary mistake and he can be history. There is nobody to hand hold them and they stand exposed to public 24*7 to be judged. Those who understand how politics works, and were at the debate in 2014 featuring the highly respected Nandan Nilekani would have seen how his own party and the opposition made mincemeat of him, made him look like a joke, left him without words and was mocked. In fact, his own party ensured he had lost the voter connect and the votes the moment he walked in.
Unlike in Bollywood, Indian politics requires punishing hard work, effort, substantial talent even if one is not the best to survive and be respected and successful. The parentage can only take them thus far in public opinion. There are efforts to create a political system where the office they aspire for, itself becomes an inheritance while trying to keep other talent out. Unlike in Bollywood, politics is unable to create a sustained bubble for this effort. Social Media and Mobile cameras ensure that all public bubbles are burst.
The twist in the tale is that Indian politics by demanding that the progeny follow the same hierarchy as the parents became like Bollywood.
When the politicians open doors for their progeny, things begin to go wrong because the progeny often do not get groomed. They do not work at the bottom of the pyramid and learn the ropes. Unlike Bollywood there are no retakes and closed doors. Those who have worked at the bottom, even if pitch forked into the position held by their parents, still command respect and are successful. They may not be the best, but they are not obvious idiots either. Those politicians who have never worked but directly pitch forked into positions of power invariably make a fool of themselves. Look at Rajiv Gandhi – from 414 out of 514 seats in 1984 he won just 197 in 1989 and his son managed to make that 44 by 2014.
Indian politics in the past few decades has seen a proliferation of regional parties created by that trusted aide to cater to his ambitions with children and family following soon. In the Indian political landscape one can say that except for the BJP and the Communists – all other parties are privately owned fiefdoms, a “democratic monarchy” if you will and the leadership or top position is reserved for the owner family.. The silver lining in this is that none of the progeny of communist leaders seem to believe in communism.
Political parties including the BJP can have dynastic politicians, but the parties must NOT function as a private family owned business with dynastic leadership. What is needed in India is –
In politics ensuring that leadership and the title/position are not a dynastic birth right.
In Bollywood it is ending the cancerous efforts to throttle non cabal talent by passive-aggressive violence and slavery.
Comments