Dynasty means experience: Shekhar Suman

Shekhar-Suman

He made a living by hitting politicians where it hurt the most with his satirical TV show Movers & Shakers. Today, Shekhar Suman, called the `Amitabh Bachchan` of the Television industry, is on the other side.

Suman is contesting the Lok Sabha elections on a Congress ticket from Patna, where he takes on another actor, Shatrughan Sinha of the BJP.

Despite his hectic campaign schedule, the actor turned politician took time out to speak to Chetan Upadhyaya of Satya Foundation about why he joined the Congress, on actors in politics and on dynastic rule. Excerpts:   

What motivated you to join politics?

I think films are also a kind of politics. If you get associated with people in any field or profession, it is politics. Though politics is associated with policy, I think it is also a kind of public relations. Through films and television, too, you communicate with the public. You entertain people and take care of them.

If you do not enter politics with the motive of ruling people, but with the thought of taking care of them, the initiative I had taken as an actor gets another avenue. Politics is a medium that connects you directly with people.

I`m here to win: Meera Sanyal

Many people have asked me why I suddenly entered politics. All of a sudden?  Goodness never comes overnight. It is there in your heart and finds expression and comes out at a certain time.

It is just like rain. The process of raindrop formation starts a long time before it actually starts raining.  Bas ek din baras jaata hai. (It just rains one day). Similarly, a man is continuously filled and one day, the water overflows ... that's it.

I thought that I am filled now and have to rain now.

What was the reason for contesting the election on a Congress ticket?

The Congress party has a rich tradition and is a part of our life. Congress is our ideology - the ideology with which Mahatma Gandhi was associated. Malviya and Tilak were associated with the Congress. Even Nehru, the architect of modern India, was associated with the Congress. They went ahead with an ideology and a clear blueprint for development.

Even in our lives, we think of Lord Krishna's teachings in Gita or what Maryada Purushottam Lord Ram did in his life. So it is very necessary to go with an ideology. A lone person may get distracted at times, but if we follow the ideology of Lord Ram, Krishna or of Swami Vivekananda and other philosophers, one cannot get distracted and will always get ahead in life.

What are your views about dynastic rule? Is it in the interest of people?

We must see in the first place the reason for dynasty. Dynasty means experience... It is in one's blood.  And it should be there. Dynasty is there even with the gods. When we worship Lord Shiva, we also worship Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesha -- they are part of the same family.

So be it human beings or gods, our main focus should be on their ability and competence. It is not the question of dynasty or non-dynasty, but of competence or incompetence.

'BJP will go with SC verdict on Afzal'

There are people who are born in a particular atmosphere and they learn or are made to learn. So they are better prepared to work in the particular field.


Critics say that when North Indians and Biharis were targeted in Mumbai, you did not raise your voice for them

I do not agree. I have always raised my voice vehemently against all atrocities. I always said in the media that whatever is happening is totally wrong. Biharis have all rights to settle anywhere in India.

Democracy gives people the right to do and say anything.  This is the biggest weapon of democracy- to live anywhere and I openly said that whatever Raj Thackeray did was totally wrong.

Even before coming to Patna, I had issued a statement that if Raj Thackeray is so agitated about it, he should come to Bihar and say the same thing there!

What is the reason that many film stars -- be it Govinda, Dharmendra or even Amitabh Bachchan --  have not succeeded in politics? If elected, how will you strike a balance between acting and politics? Will you be able to do justice to your new role?

Why do we just look towards the bad side and the people who have failed? Why can't we look at J Jayalalithaa, N T Rama Rao and M G Ramchandran who did great service to the people and were successful-both as actors and politicians.


In this season of soaring temperatures and hectic schedules, how do you beat the stress?

Sau baaton kee ek baat ki mujhe stress hota hee naheen hai. (I never get stressed) Stress never comes to me ... stress comes when you feel it. I accept all my long working hours as part of my lifestyle. And this is my only source of power and energy.

`Give us a chance, we`ll change the system`


 

SEARCH