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Too Many Bad Heroes
By Ranjan Yumnam
At another era, another time and in normal circumstances it is hard to find a hero. A hero that can make you laugh and cry but still make you feel good about yourself finally. That is what a hero is all about- to make you feel good, boost your self worth and help you live a larger than life vicariously, if not in reality.
But a hero is a rare commodity; in fact the entire expanse of history is sparsely blessed with heroes. Sometimes it is the historical exigencies which gave birth to heroes and sometimes it is the destiny (if ever such a thing exists) that makes a hero what he is. Heroes are adored, admired and emulated to such an extent that when there is a short supply of real life heroes, heroic characters are made on celluloid, in comic strips, video games and even for billboards to fill the void, for men can't live without a hero to soothe them, to reassure them and to prop their insecurities.
Oh what a good fortune it must be then for a particular society to have plenty of heroes all in one place. Imagine having a hero as your neighbor, as your roommate or your close relative. Imagine going to the grocery and finding out the shopkeeper to be a hero himself. Still better, what about brushing shoulders with a hero at Sunday market at Khwairamband Bazaar?
Surely, you bet, the place must be brimming with heroes all over; some are anonymous and some forgettable but still a hero. So numerous are the heroes that you can't keep count of them. There are as many heroes as there are mosquitoes in every locality (no offence meant to heroes). You may dismiss my contention as a flight of fiction, but a truth is a truth. Moreover, I also have the natural advantage of observing this species of heroes from very close quarters as I belong to the same place where these heroes inhabit (errr…cohabit?). Other than the problem of remembering all of them, having a number of heroes has its advantage. The people here don’t need to watch movies like Spiderman, Superman, et al, as there are a lot of real heroes to ever need a fictional one, and therefore they could save lot of money that would have been otherwise spent on going to movie theatres.
A strange characteristic about these heroes is that they are very humble, more by providence then by their personal choice. They don’t have a fan following; teenage girls don't swoon at seeing them, as their sight is as common as common cold. Some of them are school dropouts and many of them
unemployed. What makes the situation worse is they become poorer by at least Rs. 5000 after they have become a hero. The point is they are pretty common and hardly live a life very different from us- common folks.
Heroes emerge because we need them. Just as there is a Sachin Tendulkar for the millions of Indians to gush over, there is a David Beckham with a virtual magic wand to influence the fashion trend, feed page 3 of tabloid journalism and inspire movies named after him. Every society has its own quota of heroes and they come from different spheres of profession in finance, entertainment, politics, sports, art, and so on. What all of them share in common is excellence in their chosen vocation which the rest of the humanity could not achieve easily. Most of the time, they deserve the fame, attention and the mega bucks because they have worked so hard to reach there and they have extraordinary talent that few people could match. And mind you there are few heroes indeed, which fact further bolsters their claim to public attention and limelight.
But when heroes choke you by their sheer number, it calls for introspection and a new yardstick to measure Heroibility. Either the means of becoming a hero is too simple and easy or either our sense of judgment is becoming too lenient and blinkered. I fear both the factors are responsible for the bewildering number of heroes we have in Manipur.
Why do you think so many Manipuri Music Albums are being made by wannabe directors, actors, and producers who have had no or little prior experience and technical talent to do what they are doing with penchant. Making a music video has become quite an easy affair in Manipur that the only thing you require, if ever you wish to make one yourself, is casting your uncle’s son as the hero and your neighborhood nubile beauty as the lead actress. After that hire a cameraman and take the films to an amateur editor for post production. And if you ever run short of money, just relax and ask your ever-willing actors/actresses for it. When the video is finally released via local cable network, a hero would have been launched; a heroine minted and a director would have made his outstanding debut. It is so easy that anyone can become a director, a hero or a heroine. The Result- we are reeling under hero overdose/ pollution.
What I find so objectionable is the complete lack of professionalism in the whole process of Album Making. Most of the time, there is no coherent storyline; the dance sequence is lifted from some Bollywood fare; the acting by the cast is shoddy and the quality of editing and image resolution is questionable. So after watching a typical music video, you wonder whether you are seeing a dubbed Hindi number from a C grade movie with the faces of the actors somehow technologically replaced with those of Manipuris.
The viewers have to share a part of the blame for this sorry state of affairs of the budding Manipuri Album making. We should set rigorous standards for the makers of music videos to conform to certain quality and originality of ideas and technical finesse. If the present trend of churning out hopelessly made Music videos continues, the budding industry may die unnatural death out of disillusion and frustration. Its time for all those associated with this industry to pull up their shocks and take amends to infuse professionalism and technical excellence into the craft they practice.
To begin with, the local cable network should refuse to broadcast shoddily made music videos. To avoid issues of differences of aesthetic judgment, the cable networks should join hands to set up a panel of experts to determine the quality of the music videos before they are cleared for broadcast. This step will hopefully make an impact on the way music videos are being made at feverish pace and will serve as a deterrent to incompetent producers of such videos. Professionalism should be the catchword.
The problem with us Manipuris is: we are a very impatient lot. We want to do things quickly and without bothering to attend to details. I am not saying this only in the context of Manipuri film industry, but in a general sense. The result is we have lot of generalists and few true professionals in the right spirit of the term. The world belongs to the best people in their profession; and in this scheme of things Manipur is yet to figure as a serious contender for competition at national level, not to talk of international level.
So let us start giving attention to details, for God lies in small details. If Manipur is to be a land of real heroes, not just makeshift heroes, then we the Manipuris should change our attitude and laidback mindset. We should not just do things but
do them extraordinarily.
Let us separate the boys from the men. Are you ready? You should be if you are a real Hero.
(The author is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi.)
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