Horizon In The Middle

Nationalism is not just about geographies, politics and socialupheavals. It's also about economics, in the context of the evolution of the middleclass—the intellectual-ideological force behind the nation-building exercise. Overdecades, as various pressures transformed it, the middle class forced the country to alterits socio-politico-economic vision. And Hindi cinema has, through the decades, tracked allthese changes. Here's a synopsis of a script for a Hindi film that takes us through thosedecades, right up to the present:

ap sab ko Gurubhai ka salaam

Dil Chahta Hai

Mixed Doubles

Pyaar Ke Side Effects

Bride and Prejudice, Namaste London, Swades

Hum Aapke Hain Kaun, DDLJ

KKHH

Akash is frustrated. "I want a script that captures the post-reforms changes, therole of the stockmarkets in making the middle class richer, how the middle class hasinternalised corruption, and the new lifestyle and mindset of urban youth," he yells.

Akash's voice crackles on Chetan's N95: "Why can't we make a movie on Gurubhai? Hisstory will capture all of this. You have three months." The line drops dead.

A few miles away, another connection comes alive. Sids, the budding writer, is talking tohis girlfriend Tara, a rich, booze-loving divorcee. "Hi sweetheart," she says,"How was the shareholders' meet?" Sids: "I've added a few more zeroes to myname. The stock jumped 20 per cent. Gurubhai wants to be the world's largest. And you knowwhat, I need to finish writing his biography, before someone beats me to it." Tara:"You should. What's stopping you—writer's block?"

"Tara darling, I am grappling with the context. I don't want it to be a merebiography. I want to use his life to tell the tale of the middle class as it was in the1970s and 1980s, and how it has changed," says Sids. Answers a thoughtful Tara:"That's easy. Here are a few thinking points from the movies—Amitabh, AlbertPinto, and the Khans."

"What do you mean?" Before he gets an answer, the phone disconnects. Sidsforgets to call her back, he's too busy figuring out what she meant. And his encyclopaedicmemory of Hindi cinema comes to his rescue.

"Amitabh Bachchan's Zanjeer, in 1973," he ruminates, "was probably the first portrayal of a middle class anti-hero." An honest cop fights the corrupt,degraded and violent system from within. After failing, he revolts as an outsider usingcrooked means. It marked the beginning of the rebel without a pause. Vijay, in Deewar, 1975, added the 'without a cause' dimension to the anti-hero, who could be a low-class coolie and become the corrupt system itself.

Other films—the names run through his mind, Sholay, Trishul and Lawaaris— marked the complete triumph of the anti-hero. These movies convinced the middle and the lowerclasses that there was nothing wrong in using violence, being corrupt, and breaking laws.It was the panacea for economic prosperity, and social status. As Amitabh proudly said inDeewar: "Mera paas gaadi hai, bungala hai, daulat hai...." (It's a differentmatter that Ravi had mom on his side.)

Now Sids is thinking about the Khans. "Aamir in QSQT and Salman in Maine Pyaar Kiya showed the complete Americanisation of the urban middle class. The duo represented urbanyouth with a sense of freedom and confidence."

hen his memory lets him down. "Who the hell was Albert Pinto? Was that the guy who was all about undirected middle-class anger, discontent and confusion during those days in the 1970s and 1980s? Or was that Arvind Desai? Or was he the chap in Aakrosh and Ardh Satya, who went on about how the middle class had lost all hope?"

While Sids is busy talking to himself, Sameer, a film financier, is making a PowerPointpresentation to foreign and Indian VCs at his Worli office.

Slide 1: "To understand Gurubhai, our proposed protagonist, one has to understand theevolution of the middle class—from the 1950s and 1960s to the present." Slide 2:"1946-69—The Idealistic Era, when hope and optimism reigned." Slide 3 showsposters of Dharti Ke Pool, Neecha Nagar, Boot Polish and Naya Daur.

Explains Sameer, "Around India's independence, there was a genuine belief in ourability to rebuild the nation. As Nehru said during his celebrated 15th August speech: 'Atthe stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life andfreedom.' In some films, the poor either succeeded against the rich (mostly zamindars) orcontrolled their destiny. In others, the theme was Nehruvian planning and Soviet-stylecollectivisation. In those films, modernity was interpreted in terms of socialism."

Slide 4 shows posters of Awaara and Shree 420. "Raj Kapoor celebrated the tramp and the vagabond. The theme was about the wilful exclusion of the peripheral Indian by existing power structures, and his acceptance by the majority poor, the epicentres of change. Naukri, Garam Coat and Jagte Raho talked about the financial insecurities of the middle class, and how the elite was distanced from the real problems plaguing the country."

"I know," pipes in a film-buff VC, "about Uski Roti, Sheher Aur Sapna, and Roti, Kapda Aur Makaan. They were all about the death of economic idealism. They told us that the system had completely eroded and could not be changed." Sameer nods and clicks again. Slide 5 shows pictures of Shammi Kapoor, Manoj Kumar, Dev Anand and Rajesh Khanna. "In their movies, Shammi and Dev accept the westernisation of the middle class and the destruction of the socio-economic fabric. Bharat (Kumar) laments it. Khanna is melodramatic and overtly emotional about society's regression."

Sameer drags a chair and sits down. "About then, or later, we had the Amol Palekarsand Hrishikesh Mukherjis, who put across socio-economic degradation with humour and irony.Today, there is Gurubhai, the post-reforms icon, who embodies the triumph of the middleclass entrepreneur and epitomises the feeling that the government needs to keep its noseout of business."

Just then, Sameer's mobile rings. "Hello Pooja," he says, leaving the room."Your producer, and two other film-makers, had a meeting with Gurubhai thisafternoon," squeals Pooja. "Each one asked him for money to make a biographicalfilm. He graciously said yes to all of them. So, guess what, there'll be three films onGurubhai. I thought you should know."

Cut to Gurubhai's plush office. He swivels in his chair and proclaims: "Three movieson me. Reel life is just like the real one. If you have the money, you have the..."