Raju Korti
Actor-turned politician Shatrughan Sinha is self-taught and doesn't like to be bossed over. Even as he essayed the villain with so much conviction and less so as a hero in his four-decade acting career, the mercurial actor has always sought to send clear signals as to who should be the real hero. Of course, he got away with that bearing in films, but he is finding it difficult for his ethos and a mindset besieged by perpetual bravado that he should be given a short shrift by a party that never stops swearing by "Ram".
To his credit, in his long stint as an actor, Shotgun -- as he is popularly known for his usually incendiary utterances -- carried off his machismo with some distinction but he is fast realizing that there are bigger and far more seasoned villains and heroes in politics. Fans of the celluloid kind and those of the political kind are a different breed altogether. Shatrughan believes that he enjoys the same fanfare in politics that he did as an actor. As a self-righteous politician he couldn't have been farther from the truth.
I have had a few brushes with the actor at the height of his fame in the seventies and later when he became a union minister when he drew bigger applause than the conventional hero. With a certitude that often bordered on impudence and the rave reviews that he earned for bringing a refreshing change to the facsimile image of a villain, Shatrughan seemed to grow larger than life. So much so that even after he graduated to the lead roles, he would advance towards his heroines as if he was about to rape them. It worked in the initial stages of his political career when he chose to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party which thought that in him it had an effective checkmate against the likes of Laloo Prasad and Nitish Kumar. It speaks volumes of the vagaries and expediencies of politics that the same Shatrughan is today flirting with Nitish Kumar and daring the party he chose of his own volition to "punish him".
Shatrughan in never known to mince his words. At the height of his dispute -- for reasons we all know and can believe -- with Amitabh Bachchan, he had the gumption to take the thespian by the horns. Bachchan, as is his wont, never hit back but Shatrughan never lost an opportunity to take swipes at him. His attempts at blurring the lines between reel and real now seem to be coming unstuck at their seams since the BJP doesn't appear to be giving a damn about his defiant posturing. Anyway, at least for now.
Defeating a celebrity like Shekhar Suman and a brazen politician are not the same ballgame.
As the head of Arts and Culture wing of the BJP, one is not sure exactly what Shatrughan has achieved or done to further that cause but the man sure enjoys limelight this way or that way.
I recall in 2003-2004 having given a caption "Mere Apne" to a photograph where he and his contemporary Vinod Khanna flanked then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Both were thrilled to the core with that caption and had sent their appreciation through one of the reporter in charge of our political bureau. At the time, Shatrughan held two portfolios as union minister. That of Health and Family Welfare and Shipping. Political wheels have turned full wheels and today he finds his "political family" (the BJP) estranged and fortunes sinking faster than a villain of a pulp Hindi film.
For all the wisdom he professes to preach, Shatrughan still hasn't learnt the importance of discretion in politics. You cannot spout words of bravado in political life the way you do in films.
The agent provocateur, elected from Bihar's political landscape of Patna has in recent times gone hammer and tongs at the party's bosses and has bitterly criticized government decisions. The fact that he has had one-on-one with BJP rivals Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal, showered praises on the former and clarified that this should not be construed at switching sides, one doesn't have to be a political pundit to know which way his winds are blowing.
The BJP leaders embarrassed by a man who once claimed to be the "loyal soldier of the party" have caught on to the riot act. Unable to reconcile that Shatrughan defines loyalty by his own standards, the party doesn't want to take precipitate action and queer the scene before the elections in Bihar lest he gets more attention than he actually deserves. Knowing the politician in him, he will sure make the party pay for ignoring his stake to Bihar's chief ministership as if Nitish and Laloo would allow him that privilege.
Shatrughan will be making a cardinal mistake if he thinks he can derive his political ambitions with his audacity. There are few instances in a profession -- where there are no permanent friends or foes -- where someone has got away by holding the banner of revolt. Politicians once thrown out of their respective parties, rarely enjoy the same status in other parties. Narayan Rane is a glowing example.
Whatever the compulsions of the BJP bosses, they are sure coming across as inhibited to rein in this indiscipline. Else, they would have paid him back in the same coin by saying "Khamosh", a word that the actor used so effectively on the screen.
To his credit, in his long stint as an actor, Shotgun -- as he is popularly known for his usually incendiary utterances -- carried off his machismo with some distinction but he is fast realizing that there are bigger and far more seasoned villains and heroes in politics. Fans of the celluloid kind and those of the political kind are a different breed altogether. Shatrughan believes that he enjoys the same fanfare in politics that he did as an actor. As a self-righteous politician he couldn't have been farther from the truth.
I have had a few brushes with the actor at the height of his fame in the seventies and later when he became a union minister when he drew bigger applause than the conventional hero. With a certitude that often bordered on impudence and the rave reviews that he earned for bringing a refreshing change to the facsimile image of a villain, Shatrughan seemed to grow larger than life. So much so that even after he graduated to the lead roles, he would advance towards his heroines as if he was about to rape them. It worked in the initial stages of his political career when he chose to align with the Bharatiya Janata Party which thought that in him it had an effective checkmate against the likes of Laloo Prasad and Nitish Kumar. It speaks volumes of the vagaries and expediencies of politics that the same Shatrughan is today flirting with Nitish Kumar and daring the party he chose of his own volition to "punish him".
Shatrughan in never known to mince his words. At the height of his dispute -- for reasons we all know and can believe -- with Amitabh Bachchan, he had the gumption to take the thespian by the horns. Bachchan, as is his wont, never hit back but Shatrughan never lost an opportunity to take swipes at him. His attempts at blurring the lines between reel and real now seem to be coming unstuck at their seams since the BJP doesn't appear to be giving a damn about his defiant posturing. Anyway, at least for now.
Defeating a celebrity like Shekhar Suman and a brazen politician are not the same ballgame.
As the head of Arts and Culture wing of the BJP, one is not sure exactly what Shatrughan has achieved or done to further that cause but the man sure enjoys limelight this way or that way.
I recall in 2003-2004 having given a caption "Mere Apne" to a photograph where he and his contemporary Vinod Khanna flanked then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Both were thrilled to the core with that caption and had sent their appreciation through one of the reporter in charge of our political bureau. At the time, Shatrughan held two portfolios as union minister. That of Health and Family Welfare and Shipping. Political wheels have turned full wheels and today he finds his "political family" (the BJP) estranged and fortunes sinking faster than a villain of a pulp Hindi film.
For all the wisdom he professes to preach, Shatrughan still hasn't learnt the importance of discretion in politics. You cannot spout words of bravado in political life the way you do in films.
The agent provocateur, elected from Bihar's political landscape of Patna has in recent times gone hammer and tongs at the party's bosses and has bitterly criticized government decisions. The fact that he has had one-on-one with BJP rivals Nitish Kumar and Arvind Kejriwal, showered praises on the former and clarified that this should not be construed at switching sides, one doesn't have to be a political pundit to know which way his winds are blowing.
The BJP leaders embarrassed by a man who once claimed to be the "loyal soldier of the party" have caught on to the riot act. Unable to reconcile that Shatrughan defines loyalty by his own standards, the party doesn't want to take precipitate action and queer the scene before the elections in Bihar lest he gets more attention than he actually deserves. Knowing the politician in him, he will sure make the party pay for ignoring his stake to Bihar's chief ministership as if Nitish and Laloo would allow him that privilege.
Shatrughan will be making a cardinal mistake if he thinks he can derive his political ambitions with his audacity. There are few instances in a profession -- where there are no permanent friends or foes -- where someone has got away by holding the banner of revolt. Politicians once thrown out of their respective parties, rarely enjoy the same status in other parties. Narayan Rane is a glowing example.
Whatever the compulsions of the BJP bosses, they are sure coming across as inhibited to rein in this indiscipline. Else, they would have paid him back in the same coin by saying "Khamosh", a word that the actor used so effectively on the screen.
