<<

indiascope

LOCOMOTIF S. PRASANNARAJAN SEEDHI BAAT ON AAJ TAK Virgin Country “Nudity in films makes me feel very sad” ACTOR AND RAJYA SABHA MEMBER SPOKE Welcome to the sovereign republic of to Editor PRABHU CHAWLA about politics, films and family. Tamil Nadu, morally protected by the Q. How do you manage to look so young? chastity belt, where the newest martyr on A. Secrets should never be disclosed. But I can tell you the stake is the sinner who sang the virtues that it is due to yoga and dance. of temptation. She, the diva of deviance, Q. Is dance still your first love? has corrupted the virgin country with her A. I came into films because of dance. After some time I carnal rhapsodies and ignited the basest instincts of the left films and after a 20 years’ gap worked again in Baghban. young and the pure. Let the scarlet letter of cultural Q. What was the response to Baghban? adultery shine on her, a burning reminder to potential A. Very good. A lot of old people said they fell in love with sexual arsonists and other depraved dregs of a society their spouses all over again after seeing the film. draped in kancheevaram morality. How could she, the Q. Tamil filmmakers say you are through with films. once indulged—and adored—screen goddess, spout A. Whatever they say is their assessment. If they had not such groin-stirring gospels … how could she, the one rejected me then, I would not have been here. who was deified in lifetime by the star-starved, de-san- Q. What did you learn from your first film? ctify herself in such a brazen fashion? It all sounds A. When the Tamil film industry rejected me, I took familiarly absurd. And Khushboo’s Mary Magdalene Sapno Ka Saudagar as a challenge. I worked very hard. moment magnifies the social hypocrisy and the impo- Later I worked with many big directors like , tence of dissent—and a lot more. This morality play, in Anand and . which the Temptress Outcast is pitted against the Vir- Q. I understand your mother was very strict with you. ginity Police with a voyeuristic and wishy-washy audi- A. I think every artist ence in rapt submission, is being staged in a place where should have a guardian on passion is overabundant in public space, and where the the shooting spot. aesthetic of the political class is kitsch, and where vul- Q. Half the heroes of garity begins in the movie hall, which also happens to be the film industry then a kind of incubator for salvation were after you. Why did politics of dark-glasses-and-fur- you choose ? cap vintage. Khushboo, a brave A. I married him be- woman with a mind not confis- cause I liked him the most. cated, shattered the idyll, and the Q. What made you join truth revealed was naked. the BJP? In retrospect, Khushboo did A. Its leaders and its not get one endorsement she de- ideology. served, and she deserved it all the Q. Why are you not more because witch-hunters, aggressive in politics like armed with brooms, were on the Sholey’s Basanti? YASBANT NEGI street. It should have come from SAURABH SINGH A. I am a fresher in politics. I want to use my popularity J. Jayalalithaa, erstwhile victim, inspiring survivor and to take up issues like female foeticide. currently the empress. Behind her cardboard-size Q. Are you Sita or Gita in politics? mythology lies an old story of denial, struggle and tri- A. I think a politician should have a little bit of both. umph. She was the “other woman” who was almost Q. Which film actor do you like the most? thrown out of her mentor’s cortège. In the beginning A. There are many: , Shatrughan there was poignancy in her tale; she was the wronged Sinha, Shashi , , Dev Anandji .... I am woman who refused to give in. A word of solidarity from very lucky to have worked with them. her would have made a big, redeeming difference. More Q. What do you think about nudity in present films? than a sister act, it would have been a political gesture A. I feel very sad. Everything is changing with the time. as daring as the essential Jayalalithaa. As a wimpish Q. What is your dream? fraternity and a cowardly commentariat abandoned an A. My dream is about (my daughter) Esha. I hope she actor for her 600-word heresy, and as the politics of would get good films and make a big name. My daughter pseudo-morality in its desperation made the endan- Aahna also wants to work in films. I also want two hand- gered Tamil chastity an inflammatory item, Jayalalithaa some sons-in law. could have once more played the woman who killed the Seedhi Baat is telecast on Aaj Tak at 9.30 p.m. stereotype. It is not social conservatism but the pornog- every Sunday and 10.30 a.m. every Monday raphy of morality politics that has put Khushboo on a Full text of the interview at: show trial. Rebels are alone only in the beginning.

18 TODAY ◆ DECEMBER 12, 2005