Hero Worship and Escapism

“Film Hero becomes Chief Minister” - not an unusual headline in the film-crazy Indian political landscape.

I am surprised by the impact of Bollywood on the common man’s life out here. There could be many reasons, one of the oft-cited being “escapism”. Escapism from the harsh realities of Indian life - for the common man ofcourse. It is so hard to get through a normal day, that after a week of hard slog, the family gets together for a movie outing at the theatre. Never mind the cost of a ticket has gone up by some 10 times over the past decade or so.

An average Indian movie hardly makes sense, as it is based on unrealities. There are very few, less than 5%, of the movies which do make some serious sense, and are of some international quality. And when they do, they often come out as a cropper at the box office. Indians do not like serious movies, or heavy ones which also contribute to their pre-existing depression.

I found that people are enamoured of heroes and heroines. For a fact, these folks look better than the ordinary ones. But as the heroes play out various roles, their ethos get embedded for a generation in the mindsets of the movie goers. While outside the country, we are used to liking the acting content of a particular actor or actress, and the impact he or she is having in developing a genre of movies, et al, in India it is more of the unique style and unbelievable stunts that a hero enacts on the screen. Everyone knows that the stuff is not possible. The sync that Indians feel is of a different kind - the kind that the movie goer Indian parent feels when he sees his hero as a pious son, the kind that the movie goer Indian grandma feels when the heroine sings a song running around the house with her new born, and the kind that the movie goer teenager feels when he or she sees the kind of quick love developing between the hero and heroine in no time at all - and all of it happening so smoothly. The personification of the movie happenings into the real lives of people - though most of the movie stuff is unreal - somehow combines with the unreal stuff of actors running around the world in one single movie song, changing dresses every few minutes, living in palatial houses, not seeming to be working for a living of any sort, etc.,

The real danger is the sense of “hero worship” that people develop ever so quickly, once the hero becomes wildly popular after a few movies which make it to the box office. Combined with the escapist tendencies of seeking out unreal experiences which only the heroes seem to be enjoying, the whole thing becomes a circus. People won’t even mind if their favourite hero one day decides to run for political office, as has often happened in India. Not that it has not happened in the U.S. - Ronald Reagan being the famous example. However, Indians become so emotional with their unreal identification with their hero that they can act in a totally irrational manner when it comes to politics. Their hero gets elected and then people hope he will solve all their problems, though the hero has probably got only acting experience. The real world becomes so unreal, after all !

The same kind of hero worship would serve India well if it comes to celebrating business success stories, economic success stories, political success stories, etc., There are outstanding economic and business managers in India, who are hardly known outside the business media. The average movie goer would not have heard of the story, forget the actual persona behind the story. Indians seem to love sensationalism more than anything else, and that is why media plays it up as well.

Well a posting on the Indian media is long overdue.

Have a great weekend.

Vijay Srinivasan
13 August 2006
Mumbai