Readers Write In #699: Comeback Season

By Aman Basha

Reflecting on the surprising 2024 election results and those who refused to go on gently into the good night.

When I had first made my debut on this most wonderful Reader’s Write In section, my only contribution was enthusiastically, even psychotically celebrating the man, myth and legend that is Shah Rukh Khan, and even as things seemed to keep getting worse, still affirmed faith that the King would be back. 

A crazier write in was me postulating on the possibilities of the Congress’ revival under Rahul Gandhi. While the fanboy articles probably got a small embarrassed laugh over the fantasies of a fanboy, the political postulations earned nothing but dismissal. Even Shah Rukh Khan could make a comeback it seemed, but not Rahul Gandhi.

These two individuals, whose return I’d wagered, were, in a twist of fate, soon faced with the same adversary. Born out of the collective mental decline we all experienced during COVID was the Boycott Bollywood, an insidious, social media driven mob attempt to pull down, censor and control what they considered as a bastion of the left, the Hindi film industry. 

Filmmakers are at the end, slaves of trends and one would think, the implicit endorsement of the ruling policy and ideology through films and open cheerleading with a sycophantic interview for the ages would keep this cancel culture mob happy. But it was not to be, with even a film like Samrat Prithviraj getting boycott calls to the shock of its director, a card carrying member of the Sangh himself.

Most dismissed this “movement” as nothing but noise, with the film’s content and audience connect being the ultimate meter of success, but it was undeniable that any discussion about movies in those times would inevitably be invaded by these boycott brigadiers sucking the joy out of any film talk.

This social media madness reached its apex with the release of Besharam Rang. When mortal men would marvel at the magnificent Miss (in my mind) Padukone, these incels made an insane hullabaloo over the color of the goddess’ bikini. The Pathaan though was unaffected, refusing to acknowledge these imbeciles’ existence and buried them on Republic Day. To check out the dying breaths of an online idiocy, do hop over to the Pathaan thread where you get everything from conspiracy to a crash course on Kerala history.

The second and superior Shah Rukh film that year, the fantastic Jawan, was shockingly political for a Hindi film and earned snickering from many when some earnestly discussed its social impact and anti establishment stance. Fewer would realize its success was perhaps a sign of things to come.

Before I get to bitch about Dunki and how Raju Hirani pulled a fraud for the ages, let me reassure people that this piece, ostensibly about the election, has not been hijacked by the fanboy. 

In fact, a line can be drawn from King Khan’s comeback to the resurgence of the Congress. The box office performance of Pathaan and Jawan, while extraordinary the world over, was a tad disappointing and unusually so in a few regions. 

These regions were Gujarat, MP, Chattisgarh, Middle Maharastra & South Rajasthan. The underperformance was unusual as Maharashtra and Gujarat respond in the same way to films, except in this case. This difference was noted but never discussed in public, and when brought up, a box office analyst explicitly mentioned that this underperformance was due to communal factors alone, while UP and Bihar went on a surprise overdrive.

“UP and Bihar on a surprise overdrive”-Isn’t this the best description of what happened this election. To expand further on why India voted the way it did, do listen to the brilliant Madan Mohan and the terrific Jeeva P breakdown the results:

As for me, I always had a tingle within me, one that was there before Pathaan-Jawan and during this election campaign, mostly when watching how efficiently the opposition and SRKians captured the social media landscape. 

Both SRK and Rahul Gandhi essentially barred the media from covering them, ironically so for SRK who was famous for his overexposure, and set their own narrative, whether it be through AskSRKs or Rahul’s pretty good YouTube channel.

For the first time in ages, the Congress social media handles worked brilliantly especially the Bharat Jodo Yatra, with special mention to the Congress Kerala handle that rolled out one hilarious meme after another. Their organizational efficiency was very reminiscent of the SRK fans online, who were the masters of tribute edits.

Amidst all this chaos, I forgot to mention the greatest film comeback of this season, that of South India’s greatest cine polymath, Kamal Haasan. No one knows him as the Big Boss host now, huh? Vikram’s success was sweet, but it is sweeter still to see the veteran, buoyed by Vikram, partaking in one exciting film after another, starting from Kalki 2898 where he plays a villain. 

Kamal was also the most high profile celeb participant in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, going on to campaign for the INDI Alliance in Tamil Nadu, which once again shut the door for the NDA. A Rajya Sabha seat may be in the offering soon, as Kamal once again proves that his work will age better than most of his contemporaries.

Another South Indian film star made a comeback even more extraordinary, in politics to boot with a 100% success rate in all seats contested. Pawan Kalyan, after a decade of mockery and insult of not making it to the assembly, is one of the main men behind the Govts at the state and center today. Would a Tamil superstar do the same in his political debut is discussed below:

Kalyan’s comeback was coupled with the resurrection of  India’s canniest politician, Chandra Babu Naidu. CBN, at the age of 75, with a party wiped out in the previous election, subject to a relentless barrage of personal abuses and even sent to jail, has become the King of Amaravati and the Kingmaker of Delhi, defying all odds. The state of Andhra hopes to see him, in his fourth term, leave behind a great legacy.

To conclude this gallery of resilience, patience and courage, I choose to quote a couplet of Waseem Barelvi that featured in Jawan, 

Usoloon par Jahan Aanch Aaye Takrana Zaroori Hai Jo Zinda Ho Toh Phir Zinda Nazar Aana Zaroori Hai.

This comeback season saw those who were written off as finished, the ideology they represented as dead, return to declare, zinda hai.