It is common in the film industry
to have a body double to perform stunts, which are too dangerous to be
performed by the protagonist. Stunts are important because the audience loves
thrill, action and edge of the seat adrenalin rush. That’s when they come out
saying, “paisa wasool ho gaya” (I got value for my money). Stunts is a risky job despite all the
precautions that are taken. The harness, the cushions and now the computer,
which can turn a stuffed toy into a tiger, make the act more of an art than a
dare. The job is still not risk free and that’s probably the reason the demand
for stunt actors still exists. The stuntman or stuntwoman is someone who risks
his or her life to earn a living and earns applause for the protagonist in the
process.
The real life
Now, human mind is very creative.
It has the power to read patterns and adapt itself to the events around them. Here
is where the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) enters the scene. It started off as a people’s
movement that captured the imagination of youth. Its evolution from a street
movement to a political force and eventually power holder in Delhi was
carefully carried out with a charm offensive targeted at the youth. But the
recent events of a major split in the party ranks, ouster of the ideologues
Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav and a series of stings involving top
leadership has left the party clutching at straws to save its image. The youth
needed another event to charm it, to restore the credibility of the movement.
The reel life
Veeru climbed the water tank and
threatened suicide. The villagers left what they were doing and gathered at the
foot of the tank. They pleaded him to climb down and made all attempts to
convince Mausi to promise Basanti’s hand in marriage to Veeru. Once promised, the
suicide is called off and the scene ends. While Veeru was threatening suicide,
Jai was calm as a cucumber and made no attempt to stop his friend from jumping
to his death. He obviously has called his bluff. He said, “jab daaru utregi to
yeh bhi utar jayega”. But that was cinema, takes, retakes and more retakes.
The real life
The Aam Aadmi Party chose this
classic scene from Sholay to charm its audience. After all who does not love
some drama? So Gajendra, a politician in making, who was in touch with Manish
Sisodia might have been chosen to play Veeru. Kejriwal will play Jai the
indifferent friend who knows what is happening. Thus started the drama.
Gajendra perched himself up on a tree with a broom, which also happens to be
the party emblem of AAP. He started sloganeering, tied a towel around his neck
and threatened suicide. He said his crop was damaged and the wanted to kill
himself. The speeches by AAP continued below and the police stood by. People watched
Gajendra do his sloganeering, some might have urged him to climb down but that
did not seem to have any effect.
While all this was going on, Jai
the indifferent friend, Arvind Kejriwal, kept silent. It appears he knew
Gajendra was playing Veeru. He also knew that unlike the screen Veeru Gajendra
was not allowed any retakes nor were there any safety harness to save him
should he slip. Real life stunts cannot be the same as reel life stunts. He did
slip and hung himself. A tragic loss of life. A woman lost her husband, three
children lost their father and the AAP grabbed a lot of headline.
The director and the stunt man
A man who claimed to be a
devastated farmer was a professional safa expert and owned a fairly large plot
of family land. News reports suggest that there was no apparent reason for him
to commit suicide, other than a domestic row he had a few day ago.
Reports also suggest that he was
a party hopper who switched his allegiance from the BJP to SP to Congress and
recently to the AAP. His alleged meeting with Manish Sisodia at 11 AM on the
day of his suicide raises some important questions. He might have met him to
further his political ambitions or to discuss the stunt, we may never know. But
what we know is that his death was probably a political stunt that went
horribly wrong. The usual blame game has begun and will probably continue for a
few days before the public memory fades and something new catches its fancy.
The one thing that has emerged
from the fiasco of a rally that AAP organised is that Kejriwal and his AAP will
go to any extent to further their political ambitions. Gajendra is a small
sacrifice on the long road Kejriwal has chosen for himself. This is dangerous.
Bollywood should be restricted to cinemas, the day it enters our streets we
will be left at the mercy of directors like AAP. They will not flinch at
coaxing another Veeru to climb a tree.
