From Nayak to Shahenshah: the Bollywood phases of Arvind Kejriwal

A cursory glance at Arvind Kejriwal’s life in limelight will throw up an uncanny resemblance between his actions and a typical political potboiler. The ‘angry young man’ of Indian politics is in tearing hurry to clean up the ‘system’ with a single masterly stroke. Some tinseltown parallels.

Chief minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal's life has always been dramatic ever since he launched his anti-corruption crusade.

Be it his protests against corruption alongside social crusader Anna Hazare or entry into active politics, he has grabbed attention for his actions (or should we now say antics?).

A cursory glance at his life in limelight will throw up an uncanny resemblance between his actions and a typical political potboiler.

The ‘angry young man’ of Indian politics is in tearing hurry to clean up the ‘system’ with a single masterly stroke. Here’s a look at how.

Kejriwal’s rise to power has all the makings of a Bollywood film and borrows liberally from many films. The fact that he is a huge film buff and loves to watch a film every weekend probably has something to do with it as well.

Immediately after his spectacular debut in Delhi assembly elections, posters of Anil Kapoor-starrer Nayak, with Kejriwal as the new "

nayak"

were everywhere.

Nayak

Like Anil Kapoor in Nayak, the activist-turned-politician has been pointing out shortcomings of the government and the system. Later, when Kejriwal formed the Aam Aadmi Party and fought elections, many were reminded of the one-day chief ministership of Anil Kapoor in the film.

The underdog’s tale

When Delhi assembly results were declared, filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar had tweeted, "Like a Bollywood underdog film with no star cast but an interesting promo, AAP has given a hit! Like in films, in politics too, u never know!"

Say no to special status

Rajinikanth in Bulandi (2000) played a law-abiding man who imparts justice to all in his village. But unlike most leaders, he does not differentiate between his family and the public (he even punished his son). Ditto Kejriwal.

Delhi chief minister's tweet a day before his oath-taking ceremony reminded one of Bulandi. Arvind Kejriwal: "Many people asking me for passes for tomo's oath ceremony. No passes needed. All are welcome. Its ur prog. My family will also sit in public."

Political Robin Hood

Like Dabangg’s Chulbul Pandey, Kejriwal can do no wrong. He’s here for the poor and will take up cudgels against the high and mighty.

Interestingly, in one of the news debates on Monday, a Congress leader compared Arvind Kejriwal to Don Vito Corleone from The Godfather.

Oops!

Delhi law minister Somnath Bharti created a stir when he played cop in the Ugandan women case. Bharti was accused of mistreating Ugandan women in Delhi’s Malviya Nagar area after a late night raid initiated by him, with absolute disregard to procedure. Bharti’s actions reminded one of Amitabh Bachchan's Shahenshah.

In one scene from the blockbuster the superstar says, "

Sadar Harja ke nasheen-ast, sadar-ast, Shahenshah jaha khade ho jaate hain darbar wai lag jaate hain

."

Do we need to remind you of Kejriwal’s fascination with

janta darbars

?

Some Bollywood Tweets on Kejriwal antics:

Ram Gopal Varma:

All u voters who voted Aap into power must be crying ..Dont worry ,even you are entitled to make one Aag ...Aap is bigger disaster than Aag.

Sudhir Mishra

@IAmSudhirMishra: Who said d exploited become "Good". History is replete with exploited groups who did d same things to others when they came to power!

Anupam Kher

@ArvindKejriwal took an oath to uphold the constitution of India when he became CM. Today what is happening in Delhi is opposite of that.

Rahul Mahajan

@TheRahulMahajan: To be honest i really liked #AAP and @ArvindKejriwal but after today ... I am disappointed Shekhar Kapur@shekharkapur: India was born of non violent agitation/activism against British. Question is. Does India need 2 b reborn? Thru activism against corruption? Its when activism stops that elitism seeps in2 mindset of activist leaders. Nehru 2, was an activist. Before becoming a PM. And elitist.