I heard with horror recently that a biopic of Rajesh Khanna was in the offing. And that perhaps Farah Khan could be helming it. Why? Because she made a ‘retro’ movie likeOm Shanti Om in which Shah Rukh Khan was made to do Rajesh Khanna (and Jeetu, Dharam Paaji et al) in a song? I can’t think of a single reason why else. While I was wondering whether Akshay Kumar would play him (as Kaka’sdamaad, he gets dibs) or whether Mata Kanganaben Ranaut would stake a claim with a windowpane-shatteringly shrill ‘enough with the nepotism’ battle-cry, I heard that there was a biopic of Kapil Sharma being planned, too. Yes, you heard me right. That’s the range we have going today for biopics.
Perhaps Navjot Sidhu would play Kapil Sharma. Why not? And when Sidhu’s biopic is being made simultaneously, perhaps Ranveer Singh could, in turn, play Sidhu. After all, he has experience playing a cricketer from the ’80s. And Singh could juggle between this role and the one where he’s playing Govinda in a biopic titledChi Chi Number 1. I mean, sartorially, who better than Ranveer Singh to portray Govinda.
I think this nonsense has to stop. Not because biopics are bad per se or that Rajesh Khanna doesn’t deserve a biopic but because of where we are heading with regard to wallowing in past glory. Not to mention the lazy, diabolical intent with which the lives of ‘heroes’ living, dead and just born, are being co-opted by third-rate filmmakers as bait for a public that’s OD-ing on the hallucinogen called ‘Those were the days’.
The descent began when India’s Number One Moral Science Uncle, Rajubhai Hirani, decided to make a sanitized bio of Sanjay Dutt. In consultation with him. And tried to tell us that Baba was just this big, cuddly, teddy bear who’s been misjudged, and his colluding with terrorists and arms dealers was all just a big misunderstanding. From then on, we have been bombarded with so many biopics that have veered from the downright offensive and tone-deaf (likeMary Kom, with Priyanka Chopra in prosthetics!) at one end, to Akshay Kumar’s quarterly efforts that pop out with the regularity, not to mention, artistic value, of an advance tax reminder. Rumour has it that Akki goes to the sets and asks ‘Aaj mein kaun hoon? Scientist, archaeologist ya freedom fighter?’ Not that it adds one extra nuance to his arsenal of three expressions: lewd, gummy and mercenary.
The only reason our janata will go to Rajesh Khanna’s – or any filmstar’s – biopic is to see if it has any sleaze. And it won’t, trust me. Because Smt Hasya Haddis and Akki aren’t going to permit it, are they? And the only reason our countrymen go to a historical character’s biopic is to feel ‘pride’, which basically means not much else is required from them. Except beating up someone when the need arises.
I think we’ve gone way past the saturation point of basking in our ancient gloriousness, real and hallucinated, when our present non-glory isn’t being addressed. Not enough is being said – or allowed to be said – about how anything-but-great we are today.
Yes, films and books from around the world do paeanize historical characters, and sometimes great art does get created in the process. But that can’t become our primary pursuit.
I am keeping my eyes steadily fixed on the road ahead. I will not be distracted by the ‘beauty’ in my rear-view mirror.
Krishna Shastri Devulapalli is a satirist. He has written four books and edited an anthology.
