Water, water everywhere, not a drop to drink’ sang the poet S T Coleridge and one need not be surprised because water has this kind of impact on most people, including poets and creative personalities. Water has influenced producers and directors to make outstanding and successful films. Mandakini was an unknown starlet, till film maker Raj Kapoor made her sit under waterfall wearing nothing but a white saree and the result was there for everyone to see. Why, even Dawood Ibrahim after watching the waterfall scene reportedly exclaimed, ‘Dawood khush hua’! We can quote dozens of water-made films. Take Shakti Samanta’s ‘Aradhana’ which made a super star of Rajesh Khanna, pimples, mannerisms and all! The director brought together a rain-drenched couple, Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. He was reduced to a towel, she draped herself in a wet saree and even though a bright fire was burning on the set, the water effect could not be controlled. The result? Rajesh Khanna (Jr) and poor Sharmila shed gallons of tears which only enhanced the water impact.
Television came much later but was quick to latch on to the water effect. Have a look at the television serials, there is a fierce competition among them as to which one would generate maximum amount of water (by way of tears). Not a regular viewer of such serials, I am still impressed by the quantities of water shed by the TV heroine, the victim of harassment by her husband and inlaws. For the past three or four years, I had watched bits and pieces of ‘Balika Vadhu’ a serial supposed to be on the evils of child marriage. But that stage had long disappeared. Heroine Anandi Singh is a saint, born for suffering whether she was an obedient daughter, loving wife, dutiful sarpanch, brave fighter of women’s causes, upholder of women’s tradition, fierce protector of women’s rights and so on. In each role, she had to shed thousands of litres of tears and according to a recent survey, had beaten the Guinness Book of World Records by 6.67 million litres of water. Since the serial never seemed to end as Anandi hopped from one danger to another, it was predicted she may end up shedding the coveted figure of one billion litres of tears.
Viewers would have noted that so far three Anandis had essayed the tear-jerker role. In the days to come there could be many more, because of what is known as Tearingitisis, a physical ailment of soreness of eyes caused by excessive emotion and strain on the tear ducts caused by tear shedding which ultimately leads to tear weariness. At the rate at which ‘Balika Vadhu’ is progressing and the rate of tear shedding involved, Mumbai’s eye specialists predict that if and when the serial ends, it would have used 26 different Anandis, another Guinness Record. But that is not a cause to worry because producers of the serial have trained 30 Anandis, all of whom properly trained by famous eye doctors.
That is the role of water in our entertainment industry.
The role of water in politics is no less. As the Aam Aadmi Party was likely to come to power at the centre, Arvind Kejriwal was reported to be the only national leader who had made elaborate plans for the contingency. He had assembled a team under Medha Patkar for replacing the tear shedding heroines as and when the need arose. To help Medha Patkar add a bit of glamour to the tear-jerker brigade, Kejriwal had kept ready Ms Shazia Ilmi to go around the AAP ‘dharna’ sites shouting the famous lines from Shakespeare, “If you have any tears, prepare to shed them now”. The result is certain to be overwhelming, further establishing the importance of water to Indians.
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V. Gangadhar
The writer is a well-known satirist.[/column]