Lawmakers can learn from filmmakers - EDITORIAL

A political party presenting a manifesto and winning an election is simular to a film director working according to what’s written by the script writer. What’s important is that both parties have a document to work with, a blueprint. 
The difference between films succeeding and governments failing is because the people working on the set make a great effort to stick to the script. Politicians rarely do that!

The time spent in power by a government is akin to what happens during the duration of a film. There are players, match-winners, best actors and those who screw up (burp!). We had quite a successful regime between 2005 and 2010. But like renowned film director Jayaprakash Sivagurunathan underscoring that a tele drama should be concluded when it reaches ‘peak time’ a government also must take a lesson from that and know its time is up when the public ratings start to drop. 

Film making and governing a country share a lot in common. There are no place for dictators in both these ‘professions’. Citizens, like actors, must have freedom; it’s only then that an environment conducive for achieving success is created. 

Comparisons aside, the cinema industry is at present struggling to survive because of the Covid pandemic and stipulated health guidelines. Sometimes three tele dramas are filmed in one location to maintain a ‘bubble’. The news reaching us is that the cinema industry is serious about moving ahead during Covid times and to achieve that health guidelines are strictly followed. Can we say the same about our lawmakers? We can remember how health guidelines were breached when politicians attended recent funerals and when welcoming the arrival of the individual considered to have the best brain; the person considered to be the brainchild of the third political force in the country. 

Film directors are quick to spot an artiste who’s overacting because it takes away something valuable from that particular frame when that happens. However, there are occasions when artistes are expected to overact because the character portrayed needs that. All that’s done to make the acting real as possible. But when lawmakers ‘overact’ it stands out like a sore thumb. The former revolutionary man with a Che Guevara beard and mustache often overacts. He is also capable of getting very emotional at television panel discussions when he must defend his party, regime and country and also underscore his love for patriotism. On other days he knows nothing about tears and sighing. 

On a note of caution viewers of tele dramas like voters can be ‘blind’. Just imagine that there are stories circulating that some actresses were scolded at supermarkets because they portrayed characters that were wicked. Some foolish viewers fail to grasp the strong message given by the scriptwriter of the film or tele drama. The same can be said about certain governments. We did have regimes which offered the public a short-term and a long-term plan and voters were too hasty and impatient and voted for a change instead of choosing to wait for the long-term plan to produce results. 

Both the cinema industry and lawmaking have to tread cautiously; Covid or no Covid. This is because what they do could become boring and make people jaded; hence they need to find ways to up the ante and keep the people’s interests going. It’s always harder to do that in the ‘business’ of politics compared to filmmaking. Artistes like Jeevan, Vijaya and Ranjan tried their best to find the success they found on the silver screen in parliament, but failed!