Political thought ignited by Rajneeti

Politics, especially in India, is one such topic on which making a film is an extremely difficult task. Actually, politics isn’t just about governing but it also encompasses various aspects of human behavior like greed, power, hate, oppression etc. Encapsulating all these emotions in a two and a half hour film wasn’t an easy task, but Prakash Jha’s Rajneeti has not just tried to explore these complex emotions but has also tried to dwell deeper into politics.

Through this film I once again got to understand our country’s politics. I’ll talk about the film first. When Prakash Jha called me to do Rajneeti, I had numerous apprehensions regarding the film. Making a serious and commercial film on politics wasn’t an easy task after all. But the way he portrayed his life’s experience as a director, as a social servant, as a person and as a knowledge holder of politics on screen, the effort is truly commendable. In the movie, the viewers will have a glimpse of some characters from the epic Mahabharat. These characters will be seen tangled in conflicts and duality in the film. Working in this film was a beautiful experience; an experience that lives the dream of an actor both, on and off screen.
My purpose here is not to praise my movie, but I would like to mention here that everything went as planned and on schedule. I would like to give an example in support. To make a crowd sequence look real, a crowd of about ten thousand people was gathered in Bhopal. Training them and taking care of them went so smoothly that thinking of it now I hardy believe that everything was accomplished easily. Later, I got to know that this huge group of ten thousand people was actually trained for about 8 months before the actual shooting. Today when I am done with my film’s dubbing I feel that I have done something big and consequential.

During the making of Rajneeti, I found myself surrounded with political characters, and that’s when some political thinking in me began which questioned why India’s polity has steeped so low? Is India’s politics progressing towards its goal? Why do the politicians find it difficult to connect with the masses? And why are they not uncomfortable being accused of scams and scandals? Do we common people not want some extreme changes to happen in the present day political system?

But in the end, it’s not about the politicians or the politics; it’s about the common people. Democracy has rendered common people with a very strong weapon which has the power to bend even the hardest of politicians. And that weapon is VOTE. The problem is that the common people for their self motives let themselves get cheated in the hands of these politicians and they don’t even realize something like this happening. Or they sometimes do but they choose to sit silently and do nothing about it. The present system has made the citizens passive, which should be changed. People don’t want to change the system, they want to be a part of it and that’s where the problem lies.

While shooting for the film, I also thought whether or not the film would be effective in reflecting an image to the politicians. Would the masses be able to learn about the political tactics often used by politicians? If Rajneeti is able to do so, I’ll be a proud person. But if people refuse to see the meaning behind the film, why should the film only be blamed for not being able to bring a change in the society? I think, Rajneeti will do its work; it’ll entertain people, make them cry, make them laugh and importantly, make them understand. Rajneeti will make the viewers question those things that they either missed out of ignorance or couldn’t understand themselves. But the willingness to understand would totally depend on them. There’s a lot to learn and a lot to know. From my experience as an actor I can only say that this film would be the first film ever to deeply question politics in India.

Well, It's enough for now...I think

It's your's and only your's
Manoj Bajpayee