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Anna Hazzare and Shankar’s Indian
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Kisan
Baburao Hazare, popularly known as Anna Hazare
is the latest sensation of India through his hunger
strike to make the government implement the Jan
Lokpal Bill which will help reduce corruption
in India.
If we start analyzing why he has been able to
attract such a huge following in a short span
of time, two things strike me as very important.
The first thing is media support. As portrayed
by KV Anand in KO, if someone is trying to enter
public life, he needs some sort of attention from
media to reach out to the people and let them
know what he is doing. Without the focus and reach
of the media, a protest led by one man will be
nothing more than smidgen. Imagine; what chance
would Anna stand against a posse of politicians,
most of them millionaires, who are trying to make
their voices and opinions heard through private
satellite channels. If not for the media support,
would Anna’s call for a nationwide protest
against corruption have been heard so loudly across
the country. One of the major factors behind the
one-man protest becoming almost a revolution which
is making the government look powerless is the
backing of the media.
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A good
example of the media’s power in getting the public
involved can be gauged from the contrasting ways in which
two protests have evolved over the decade. Take the case
of Irom Sharmila (many of you would have read about the
lady) who has been fasting for more than a decade, been
force fed through tubes and been constantly under house
arrest; all because she went on hunger fast against the
Armed Forces Special Powers act. Yes, she has been fasting
from November 2000, nearly 11 years. But, her protest
never became a huge movement or a revolution. Why? Because,
the media did not take it up. She has not been prime time
focus of many news channels, instead she has been given
spaces in op-ed columns hidden well within the depths
of newspapers.
Yes, the media’s power in magnifying the deeds of
person is undeniable. But, that is not to say that Anna’s
popularity and the effectiveness of his movement is just
because of the media. Anna Hazare, has lived in a small
room attached to a temple in Ralegan Siddhi village since
1975. He has a bank balance of 67,183 rupees and 1500
rupees in hand. He also has 0.07 hectares of family land
which is being looked after by his brothers. And above
all, he is a respected senior citizen running a crusade
against the biggest malice of our country - corruption,
something which every Indian has been affected by.
This takes me to the other foremost thing - how a man
of his age can lead a campaign like this. Is this practically
possible?
Although Shankar’s Indian was a fantasy against
corruption made with realistic screenplay without hitting
the logic, few people raised their concerns over an old
man staging such a protest. Here, in real life, Anna,
74 by age is still energetic and raring to go to fight
for his fellow countrymen. And people who saw his sprint
in Ramlila Maidan even after a 3 day fast in Tihar jail
will definitely agree that physical strength is not a
matter if you are courageous enough to fight.
Both Senapathy and Anna are ex-miltiary men. Kamal was
with Indian National Army and Anna was with Indian Army.
In the movie, all of Kamal’s close associates will
be killed by British government. Whereas when Anna was
sent to Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, Pakistan launched
an air strike on November 12, 1965 where all of his comrades
were killed and Anna comes as the only survivor.
Both Senapathy and Anna Hazare are smart, they don’t
want to protest by just blocking roads and shouting or
protesting in a small area, they want their message to
reach the entire nation.
Both used electronic media to send a message to their
countrymen. When Senapthy used a television channel, Anna
uses the service of youtube where the video of Anna’s
speech from Tihar jail was uploaded and created waves
among the youngsters.
Although Indian’s plot doesn’t happen in day
to day life, it was director Shankar’s dream to
have a senior citizen fight corruption, which is becoming
true in real life now. Means and the approach is totally
diametrical. Both - ‘Indian thatha’ &
‘Anna Hazare’ cannot be and should never be
compared. But my only sincere wish is to have more social
justice fantasies by such filmmakers come true !
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