Jottings - Slice of Life -284 - ( The biopic on Modi - few thoughts)

Jottings - Slice of Life -284 - ( The biopic on Modi - few thoughts)

There couldn’t have been a better time for the release of the biopic on Prime minister Narendra Modi. Especially, with an upcoming general election that promises to be a touch and go for the BJP. Out of curiosity, I was reading the “Model code of conduct”, released by the Election commission of India, to check what the documents say about using “Art” to further one's position in an election campaign. After all, movies are a form of art, at least that’s how the ruling party would frame their case. So what does the document say about making a movie on the incumbent prime minister on the eve of a general election? The Code of conduct is silent about it. It has clauses on most other ways of unduly influencing the public such as: refraining from monopolizing public places, not causing any division by way religion, language or caste; not to hold meetings in front of opposition party offices or homes; not to use the Government machinery to campaign etc; but nowhere in the document are there restrictions on making a film, or dance drama, or song, or painting. The only caveat I could find that could be construed as a guideline for art is that propaganda material, created and used, shouldn’t be derogatory to other parties, and there is a cap on the amount of money that can be spent on creating such artifacts. Beyond these vague and general pointers, there is absolutely nothing in the code of conduct that prevents anybody from making a movie. To that extent, the matter is clear and unequivocal, and the BJP’s ploy of releasing a movie as a window to showcase Modi’s indisputable greatness is beyond legal contention.

Now there is a question of the spirit of following the “code of conduct”. Any constitutional document has two sides to it. One is the letter of the statutes and the other is the spirit behind it. I am not sure if the release of the movie “Narendra Modi” exemplifies the spirit. While there may be no statute that bars a party from making a movie; and the BJP may claim that the Congress has made movies in the past based on critical national events, I don’t think Prime Minister Modi needs such scaffolding. His personality and charisma in real life in more than sufficient to carry an election. By descending into tactics such as these, the BJP is only betraying a sense of vulnerability about its position and chances. That is unfortunate indeed. In India, nothing can sway the public more than movies. It is a known and proven fact. For some strange reason, when it comes to cinema, the line between fiction and fact is completely obliterated in India. Our heroes and heroines are allowed to live their reel life in real life. We consider their onscreen personas to be real and tangible. A hero can stop a train with his little finger, another can fly in the air to beat up hundreds. It makes no difference to us, and it doesn’t offend our sense of credibility. We acknowledge the superhuman quality of actors on screen without question. In such a milieu, a movie on Modi, projecting him to be in the same mold as Vivekananda, rising from poorest of circumstances to heights of success, recreating each step of Modi's journey in superhuman terms, is bound to have its effect on the gullible public ready to believe everything thrown at them. Add to this, the fact that all the “creative” artists involved in the project are staunch BJP supporters ( some card holding members), and the movie is blessed by the Prime minister himself by graciously allowing his poems to be used; and the President of the party finding time to release initial poster and other paraphernalia around the movie; and the first rushes of the movie as splashed on television and media exalting the Man Narendra Modi as quasi-spiritual leader heeding to an inner call to lead the country forward. It doesn’t need great intelligence and logic-splitting inference, to see that the timing of the release of this movie is an election stunt to scaffold the larger-than-life personality of Narendra Modi, and an attempt to ride the Modi wave for the second time. Not a bad ploy, if you ask me, considering it is done by the book with no legal violation of the code of conduct. But the spirit of it? Well, that’s another thing altogether.

Having said this much, I must also confess that the life of Narendra Modi is worth a biopic. I would definitely line up to watch it. Only a few prime ministers of Modern India have had the rise, tenacity, energy, drive, and phenomenal acceptance among all sections of the population as Modi has. The people of India love Modi, but whether the same can said of BJP - I don't know? My suspicion is that it has to be a “NO”. There is still a lurking suspicion about BJP’s overall agenda, but none about Modi. Modi looks steadfast in his commitment to the country. Detractors may say that Modi has risen from the ranks of radicalism, and ruled his native state like an autocrat. Agreed, but as a prime minister for the last five years, he has given India back its pride in the global arena, not so much in terms of evangelizing his party’s ideology, but reinstating the glory of India and the strength of its character, by his own impeccable demeanor and worth ethic. I still continue to hear the resounding voice of Modi, when he spoke a few years ago at the US Senate. There was pin drop silence and a sense of historic importance, as the august senate listened to the man speak with such fluency, conviction, and emotion.

Therefore, on the question, whether it is appropriate to release a biopic on the life of a sitting prime minister contesting his second term in a month’s time from now; I am clear - it is not. The film may not have violated any legal norms, but it certainly has stepped over the boundaries of the spirit in which those norms were written. But whether a movie on Modi is to be made at all; I am clear - it is.

God bless…

yours in mortality,

Bala