If Khan Can… 

When Aamir Khan found his voice on the Sardar Sarovar dam, he became one of the rare Bollywood stars, at the peak of his success, to take a stand on a public cause and, in doing so, demonstrated the total lack of social activism so far in Bollywood.

The Indian film industry is the largest in the world in terms of number of movies produced per year. Bollywood stars are internationally recognized with a fan base that stretches from Kabul to Korea. In recent years, it has even started making films on more topical issues.

Still, when it comes to social activism outside the film set, Bollywood stars are surprisingly silent. They might run for political office (usually when a career is at fledgling end) and they might quietly donate money to feel-good causes.

But when it comes to taking up a public cause, they are remote, inaccessible and silent.

As the Aamir Khan episode has demonstrated, the involvement of celebrities in social or political causes is not without hazard. There is also the danger of celebrities becoming the focus rather than the cause with uninformed opinion doing more harm than good. But the relative merits of Bollywood developing a social conscience can also be argued.

Bollywood stars are demi-gods in India — we build temples for them, they influence our walk, talk, fashion and style, they tell us what colas to drink, what toothpaste to buy, and where we should invest our money.

Unfortunately they shy away from influencing us on issues of social relevance. There are exceptions like Shabana Azmi and Rahul Bose but these are not exactly mainstream “stars” with the kind of influence the Khans or the Bachchans command.

The Outspoken West 

This is unlike the case in Hollywood where successful stars like Angelina Jolie or George Clooney have been unafraid to support issues they truly believe in.

Of course, feel-good subjects like AIDS or hunger in Africa are more popular and Hollywood stars also shy away from coming out openly on controversial social issues like race (how many white stars talk about black people?). But the last US presidential elections saw a number of celebrities openly expressing scorn for George Bush or criticizing the war in Iraq. In contrast during the Gujarat riots, Bollywood played safe by appealing for communal harmony but very few openly criticized Narendra Modi.

The same holds true for awards functions.

At the Oscars, Jon Stewart likened the giant statue to Saddam Hussein and asked “Do you think that if we all got together and pulled this down, democracy would flourish in Hollywood?”

Michael Moore famously brought his fellow documentary-filmmaker nominees on stage and chastened Bush for sending Americans to war for fictitious reasons.

Cannes gets more and more political every year.

In contrast, the Indian film industry, one that has seen award ceremonies proliferate faster than Himesh Reshamiyya releases, offers little more than gloss, glamour, 20 costume changes and thank yous to the dog.

It never ceases to amaze that an industry so widely recognized, influential and wealthy can have its stars so apathetic to its environment. In contrast, regional cinema stars are relatively more active. Khusboo has been unafraid to speak out unlike someone like Amitabh Bachchan whose biggest cause has been opposing the term “Bollywood” in describing the Indian film industry which, with all due respect to him, is not exactly shaking the ground beneath our feet.

Keeping the histrionics on screen 

Why has Bollywood lacked a social voice for so long?

It would be naïve to assume that Bollywood stars do not have the intelligence quotient to make an informed opinion. One argument is that controversial, political subjects might upset the fan base, ultimately harming business.

For example, look at the boycott of Fanaa in Gujarat. It is also possible that religious issues are avoided by Muslim stars for fear of provoking a personal attack. But religious issues are just one part of the spectrum.

This brings one to the argument that Bollywood doesn’t care enough to take a stand. And this might actually touch the surface more than any other argument so far.

The present breed of Bollywood stars are from the middle-class, sometimes elite, strata of the society which is unwilling to adopt a stand unless personally affected. And this is a symptom affecting not just Bollywood, but the Indian middle class which lacks a social conscience unless the individual is affected.

The class system in our country is entirely stratified with the middle class apathetic to the problems affecting the other spectrum of society. Vinod Mehta highlights this in Outlook saying “India’s smug, selfish, self-centred, satiated middle class, fattened on the fruits of the booming economy, is positively hostile to any policy which sets out to empower the poor.” Bollywood is just the mirror of our society and if we are to blame the film industry, we must blame ourselves and our sense of disconnect for anything that does not affect us.

In the meantime, love him, hate him, question his motives, criticize him — after all, debate is healthy, the country is democratic, speech is still free — but raise a toast to Aamir Khan who, unlike the rest of us, has found a voice however controversial or political it might be.

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