In the light of the recent glorious ousting of Yousuf Raza Gilani by the Supreme Court in what foreign journalists call Pakistan’s first ever “judicial coup”, newspapers have gone wild pointing out things Islamabad can do or should do in order to regain stability (according to Pakistani, not international standards) in the country. I came up with my own, slightly idiosyncratic list that I have drawn from Bollywood.
• Debut actors can be a good thing every now and then
Some 4 years ago, Bollywood began to see an influx in debut stars. Either that or I actually became bored enough to recognize stars who weren’t Shah Rukh Khan or Abhishek Bacchan. Imran Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh et al came along when everyone was getting slightly annoyed with the same done-to-death faces. Pakistan’s new prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, might be going down the same road as our actors that refuse to quit (cue in 35 year old actors playing college students in every “youth” movie). Nicknamed “Rental Raja” due to the alleged kickbacks he received during the rental power corruption scandal, he instills very little confidence where emerging out of the political chaos at hand is concerned. Political analysts have already passed their verdict: he’s going to go down the same road as Gilani (or going to flop at the box office, you pick). What the Pakistani government is now in absolute dire need of are young politicians. It would be ludicrous to suggest these youngsters take up prominent portfolios, but even a start might be good (Bhutto and Sharif kids, take note).
• Sequels get worse as they progress, and remakes rarely ever succeed
Read Golmaal 2, 3, and (most cringeworthy) 4. Golmaal was superb, Golmaal 2 wasn’t all bad, 3 was bearable and 4 downright cringeworthy. When I flip through the movie channels and one of them is playing, I literally cannot tell the difference between the storylines or the ending of each. Coups in Pakistan are turning out the same way. Parties come to power, promises are made, people are disappointed, parties are ousted. Repeat process. Where the latest “judicial coup” is concerned, striking out “military” and replacing it with the word “judicial” isn’t exciting observers any more. Himesh Reshammiya remaking “Karz” isn’t going to guarantee him a hit, it’s not the plot per say that’s faulty, just the producer. When the institutions themselves aren’t in top shape, why bother trying to “remake” the government ‘n’ number of times? The political scenario needs a revolution, not a “do kauri ka” remake.
• Too many big (stars) players definitely spoil the broth
We’re all too familiar with those movies that have all big stars and no story line (*cough* Players *cough*). The problem lies not in the actual actors themselves but the fact that whenever we have a number of big names producers tend to sacrifice the story line. And then of course, the media feeds on the off screen drama of “what happened when X and Y had to share screen space”. What we saw in this latest ousting was not just an ousting, it was a power struggle. Gilani, Riaz, Chaudhry, the PPP itself (who has likened this coup to the “judicial murder” Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) are all embroiled in a battle that isn’t going to end with this. The players might change, but the sentiment will remain the same- too many big names eventually will clash due to conflict of interest. In a country so heavily dependant on kinship and patronage, this is especially relevant as each individual has their own agenda and promises to carry out.
This list states the obvious, if not anything else. However, my dad says that the obvious needs to be stated once in a while in order to make sure we don’t ignore it. Here you have it, the obvious- Bollywood style.
-Lassie
• Debut actors can be a good thing every now and then
Some 4 years ago, Bollywood began to see an influx in debut stars. Either that or I actually became bored enough to recognize stars who weren’t Shah Rukh Khan or Abhishek Bacchan. Imran Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Ranveer Singh et al came along when everyone was getting slightly annoyed with the same done-to-death faces. Pakistan’s new prime minister, Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, might be going down the same road as our actors that refuse to quit (cue in 35 year old actors playing college students in every “youth” movie). Nicknamed “Rental Raja” due to the alleged kickbacks he received during the rental power corruption scandal, he instills very little confidence where emerging out of the political chaos at hand is concerned. Political analysts have already passed their verdict: he’s going to go down the same road as Gilani (or going to flop at the box office, you pick). What the Pakistani government is now in absolute dire need of are young politicians. It would be ludicrous to suggest these youngsters take up prominent portfolios, but even a start might be good (Bhutto and Sharif kids, take note).
• Sequels get worse as they progress, and remakes rarely ever succeed
Read Golmaal 2, 3, and (most cringeworthy) 4. Golmaal was superb, Golmaal 2 wasn’t all bad, 3 was bearable and 4 downright cringeworthy. When I flip through the movie channels and one of them is playing, I literally cannot tell the difference between the storylines or the ending of each. Coups in Pakistan are turning out the same way. Parties come to power, promises are made, people are disappointed, parties are ousted. Repeat process. Where the latest “judicial coup” is concerned, striking out “military” and replacing it with the word “judicial” isn’t exciting observers any more. Himesh Reshammiya remaking “Karz” isn’t going to guarantee him a hit, it’s not the plot per say that’s faulty, just the producer. When the institutions themselves aren’t in top shape, why bother trying to “remake” the government ‘n’ number of times? The political scenario needs a revolution, not a “do kauri ka” remake.
• Too many big (stars) players definitely spoil the broth
We’re all too familiar with those movies that have all big stars and no story line (*cough* Players *cough*). The problem lies not in the actual actors themselves but the fact that whenever we have a number of big names producers tend to sacrifice the story line. And then of course, the media feeds on the off screen drama of “what happened when X and Y had to share screen space”. What we saw in this latest ousting was not just an ousting, it was a power struggle. Gilani, Riaz, Chaudhry, the PPP itself (who has likened this coup to the “judicial murder” Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) are all embroiled in a battle that isn’t going to end with this. The players might change, but the sentiment will remain the same- too many big names eventually will clash due to conflict of interest. In a country so heavily dependant on kinship and patronage, this is especially relevant as each individual has their own agenda and promises to carry out.
This list states the obvious, if not anything else. However, my dad says that the obvious needs to be stated once in a while in order to make sure we don’t ignore it. Here you have it, the obvious- Bollywood style.
-Lassie
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