During my Engineering College days, Amitabh was the One man Bollywood movie industry. He was No.1 to 10, leaving the rest way behind. He was not just the Superstar, rather the mega star of those days. I don't think in our lifetime, we will ever see any one of his stature, who single handed dominated the industry for so long a period of time.
I was a huge fan of him too, watched many a junk movie of him which I would conveniently ignore. But I was not a blind fan of him, as some of my friends in college were. Even the slightest of criticism towards the tall actor, who stood taller above the rest, would be taken personal by his followers. Late 80s was a politically charged time in India. Amitabh was an MP from the prestigious constituency of Allahabad, who resigned on the aftermath of the Bofors Scam.
Amitabh's fans would sympathize with him, pleading innocence of behalf of their hero, as the Angry Young man had a noble intention, but could not sustain in the hurly burly milieu of Indian politics. I disagreed. Amitabh was no ordinary MP. He had already attained a Mega stature and being close to Rajiv Gandhi, he could have done a lot for his constituency. He hardly did anything notable. He didn't leave politics midway through his tenure because his adversaries prevented him to do the right thing. It's rather being a shrewd guy, he knew it was the right thing to do at the right time. However, my points fell into deaf ears of his fans, they would come charging at me at the slight perceiving of insult towards their demi God.
Fast forward to a quarter of century later. I see the same traits in many fans of Narendra Modi. No doubt our PM is charismatic, an energetic salesman who effectively communicates and connects to the audience. he is a welcome breather from his do nothing predecessor and corrupt Congress government. Last election was Modi's election, he single handed gave simple majority to his party. Yet he is not above and beyond criticism.
He reminds me of India Gandhi who was immensely popular, post 1971 war and attained a cult status amongst the masses. When threatened, she imposed emergency. She could have won the elections in 1977 but for the iconic JP. In fact she swept South India where they only knew to cast their vote for AMMA INDIRAMMA, or Mother Indira. The Indira wave from South touched 4 seats of Odisha bordering Andhra where folks would say in the local dialect KAANGRESS KU VOTE DABARA EKKA (we only would vote for Congress), though she lost from rest of Odisha and India.
The saga of Indira Gandhi is not very old. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Ronald Reagan famously said, "trust, but verify". Being fan is fine, being blind is not. Hero worship is after all anathema to democracy.
I was a huge fan of him too, watched many a junk movie of him which I would conveniently ignore. But I was not a blind fan of him, as some of my friends in college were. Even the slightest of criticism towards the tall actor, who stood taller above the rest, would be taken personal by his followers. Late 80s was a politically charged time in India. Amitabh was an MP from the prestigious constituency of Allahabad, who resigned on the aftermath of the Bofors Scam.
Amitabh's fans would sympathize with him, pleading innocence of behalf of their hero, as the Angry Young man had a noble intention, but could not sustain in the hurly burly milieu of Indian politics. I disagreed. Amitabh was no ordinary MP. He had already attained a Mega stature and being close to Rajiv Gandhi, he could have done a lot for his constituency. He hardly did anything notable. He didn't leave politics midway through his tenure because his adversaries prevented him to do the right thing. It's rather being a shrewd guy, he knew it was the right thing to do at the right time. However, my points fell into deaf ears of his fans, they would come charging at me at the slight perceiving of insult towards their demi God.
Fast forward to a quarter of century later. I see the same traits in many fans of Narendra Modi. No doubt our PM is charismatic, an energetic salesman who effectively communicates and connects to the audience. he is a welcome breather from his do nothing predecessor and corrupt Congress government. Last election was Modi's election, he single handed gave simple majority to his party. Yet he is not above and beyond criticism.
He reminds me of India Gandhi who was immensely popular, post 1971 war and attained a cult status amongst the masses. When threatened, she imposed emergency. She could have won the elections in 1977 but for the iconic JP. In fact she swept South India where they only knew to cast their vote for AMMA INDIRAMMA, or Mother Indira. The Indira wave from South touched 4 seats of Odisha bordering Andhra where folks would say in the local dialect KAANGRESS KU VOTE DABARA EKKA (we only would vote for Congress), though she lost from rest of Odisha and India.
The saga of Indira Gandhi is not very old. Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. Ronald Reagan famously said, "trust, but verify". Being fan is fine, being blind is not. Hero worship is after all anathema to democracy.
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