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iView Author:Santosh
(Mumbai, India )

Email:withheld

Indian Cinema is LHS +

…i.e. Lead Hero Syndrome. Kamal Hassan’s latest release, Dashavataram, once again brought the epidemic to fore.

The disease however is an age old one and heroes, more so superstars have an extremely high rate of susceptibility.

So what’s Dashavataram about? If you think it’s about some undercover agent, some temple priest or even the costliest epic ever produced in India, you are still way off the mark. It is simply this – Kamal Hassan’s acute denial of ageing. He contracted the virus a while back; it’s just that the effects are more visible and pronounced today. There are many expressions of this syndrome, Kamal Hassan’s illness took the ego-trip route. Even in the near past, in films like Hey Ram, one could see the actor’s overwhelming urge to hog each and every frame of the film. To achieve this he has decided to vertically integrate and take on the mantle of writing the script as well. What better way to make sure you’re centre stage than designing the stage yourself?

Now, Kamal Hassan is among the better actors Indian Cinema and if one may take some liberty by extension, world cinema has produced in a very long time, this is undisputed. However, we as audience cannot be blamed for not noticing it in recent years. Let’s face it if Al Pacino played Reese Witherspoon’s 34 year-old boyfriend, no matter how brilliant the rendition it is a bit difficult to notice it simply because you cannot bring yourself to digest it as a fact, unless it is an abstract piece part of the ‘Theatre of the absurd’. If you feel this is an exaggerated comparison, FYI, Al Pacino is not very many years older to Kamal, also most of Kamal’s ‘love interests’ are much younger to Ms Witherspoon.

To be fair however to the man, he is not the sole victim; it is like we know a long standing tradition almost. Dilip Kumar almost fell prey, Rajesh Khanna and Amitabh did too. In fact Amitabh threatened to become the most despised actor somewhere between the late 80’s and mid 90’s. However, it is Amitabh who leads the survival pack post the dilapidating strike of the syndrome. The fabled comeback of the Big B, in ways almost comparable to his super stardom days was rooted in a simple fact – the acceptance of ageing. The instant that moment of truth arrived for him that was that. Today he is more bankable for box office and critical acclaim than his son or any of his gang.

But here’s the thing. Are actors the only victims, is it something about the film industry per se or is it a more cultural thing? Come to think it, it sure is a cultural thing. Be it any aspect, sports being the other popular example, we Indians have a terrible time letting go, accepting reality. Kapil Dev, arguably the greatest sportsman this country ever produced, had to be virtually kicked out of the side once he broke Hadlee’s record. Sunil Gavaskar, possibly the best batsman in the world was booed by the home crowd in his last couple of one day games. Today Sachin is a demi-god but is it time for him to retire? He has played cricket longer than some of the current team members are alive. I was barely out of diapers when he debuted with a bang, literally ending Abdul Kadir’s international career. And it shows too, he couldn’t play a host of IPL matches, nor the ongoing Bangladesh series, it is understandable too given the demands of playing at the highest level for nearly 20 years. However absolutely no one, not the coach, not the selection committee, not even the country’s PM can ‘ask’ him to retire. Compare this though with say someone like Pete Sampras, rated as the greatest tennis star of all time, he quit at his peak saying he lost the motivation having broken and set practically every record there is.

So, is it fair to blame the actors or the film industry? Maybe not, but the fact remains, it isn’t something any of us can be proud about and maybe it is time to stop taking refuge under the ‘cultural thing’ blanket if we are to raise our standards in all aspects of International standing.