We need to create our own narratives in cinema, imbued with intellectual-emotional heft, from which characters who have traction with Indians will emerge
An Indian fan died recently while watching the latest Hollywood superhero cluster film Avengers Infinity War, perhaps unable to digest the obliteration of some capable men and women who could not tame an epic dark force and had to give in. The dark force was a monolithic Frankenstein who took it upon himself to restore the balance in the universe and saving its limited resources by random kills of the human species. At a time when natural resources are really at peril of depletion, the defeat of not one but several superheroes in the hands of one villain brought home the frailty of existence all too starkly. And though the Marvel studio franchise will be resurrecting them in a sequel by some spin of them being teleported to an alternate universe, the short-term drama of being at world’s end has seen Hollywood scoring the biggest hit of the comic icon genre. The tacit acceptance that a solo superhero cannot save the world besides being a neighbourhood vigilante and needs many more of his ilk to be a mega force is resetting the cinematic genre to a degree of earthly realism. Superhero, then, is collective humanity. And unfinished business is not despair; but about getting up again.
Have we, therefore, lost our faith in superheroes or is it that survival is becoming such an insurmountable challenge that escapism is not quite the release we are seekingIJ Or is it that superheroes need to be human to ensure their continuity, despite the bleaknessIJ While critics have consistently regretted the lack of human dimension in representations on the big screen — the gigantic impact of the alien destruction of mankind is never shown in terms of human emotion but a series of crashing buildings and landscapes — the heroes themselves lack moral concern for causing collateral damage. Over the years, the caricatures and comic book flatness are filling out real human contours, the transformation of the Dark Knight series being a prime example. Even in Avengers, the characters have a context and a backstory for being and are flawed, sometimes failing to summon up the best versions of themselves, at other times responsible for their anti-thesis. The mighty Thanos, too, sheds a tear and is a conflicted, tormented soul who, despite acquiring some power of infinity, isn’t quite happy watching the sun go down. “To what end,” he ponders.
Meanwhile, the superheroes are breaking out of their White supremacist constructs and embracing diversity. The commercial success of the Black Panther of Wakanda has made Marvel, the studio that has been nurturing its comic characters and growing them for ten years to rule a global consciousness through allied merchandising, consider more inclusions. Though a certain Mr Weng appeared in the Avengers, there is already talk of a Chinese superhero joining the ranks. Indian-origin characters, who have mostly featured as sidekicks, are hoping that they get their own version as representative of their diasporic and market strength. The latest Avengers series has been Hollywood’s biggest opening in the Indian market, the turnstiles spinning faster than any Hindi blockbuster. As Hollywood stays on the side of political correctness, giving us wonder women of various kinds, the stakes are high for a cross-civilisational melt of characters.
Not that there aren’t superheroes in the Indian context. In fact, we need our own constructs than imposed ones. While Bollywood has done the multi-media franchise experiments with films like Krrish and Ra One, unfortunately they all have mimicked Western templates rather than evolving one with a distinct Indian ethos, thinking and originality. leave aside the graphic novels or the contemporary revival of comic cons, generations have grown up on superheroes churned out by Raj Comics or Amar Chitra Katha, much before the multi-pronged invasion of Superman. There’s Doga, who doesn’t draw power from some other planet or energy reserve, but has developed his own human strength through training. He’s not rich like Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne conjuring up futuristic tools and war machines, but a rather regular guy who scores with his brain. He doesn’t have fancy suits but wears a dog mask. And he looks for scaleable solutions than flexing his limitlessness. Then there’s Nagraj, who has drawn serpentine power from nature reserves, Dhruva, who is a stunt biker, acrobat and martial artist but whose best kept secrets are his ESP, his ability to communicate with the animal world and breathe under water. There’s Shakti too, not the red-suited counterpart of Shaktimaan, but a desi wonder woman who can travel at the speed of light. Fortunately, they are all believable Indians who score not with unreal physical prowess or borrowed aerodynamics but that very Indian characteristic called mindplay and wit. Unfortunately, Indian filmmakers, while attempting to recreate Doga, have not even looked at the other characters. And though we do not know what Ranbir Kapoor’s Dragon will be like, the only relatable superhero so far has been the Robin Hoodish Mr India and maybe Vikramaditya Motwane’s Bhavesh Joshi, who in a paper mask, roots out the corrupt. That’s the maximum they can go to, a self-awakening to the cause of vigilantism. At best form a justice league.
Part of the deficient appeal of our superheroes is that they do not have a shelf life or branding beyond the home-grown comics, which have been replaced by glossy consumables from the DC and Marvel Inc. Most importantly, they seem to be confined to their appeal among children who don’t carry their images into adulthood, as good as toys that you junk in a loft in your teens. They are not aspirantly urban in consciousness and seem to be bound by their limited eco-systems. And although India is now the FX backroom for Hollywood itself and is firing up the digital space with original content, nobody has thought about casting our home boys and girls in the third dimension. Why, the Black Panther has shown that the African warrior tribesmen are as comfortable electrifying a defence shield while sporting their costumes in athleisure formats and accessorising themselves with beads. Culture is as much a tool of the Black Panther’s power as his laboratory.
The other trajectory is that we are not entirely alive to the concept of superheroes. We are just about comfortable with the idea of superhumans. The Gods and mythological characters have suitably peopled our marvel universe. That explains the success of the Bahubali franchise. Our superheroes have to be God-gifted and divine, cardboard thick in complexity, look pretty, be morally upright in a pedantic way, a martyr. He/she has to be seen as extensions of our holy trinity and cannot blend in with present-day human matrix. He/she seems almost unattainable and not someone who has emerged out of our skin and developed extraordinary skills through science, study and knowledge. Be it Spiderman, Batman or Iron Man, they are all scientific innovators who devote a considerable time to research. Our demi Gods cannot be bound by empirical data or break out of formula like the earthly Avengers. They are simply gifted and static in that cosmic giftedness. Even the borrowed Krrish will soar down in his glistening suit to deifying chants that make him a modern avatar of Krishna.
Story-telling on commercial cinema anyway has superstars who do not need a character fitout. Be it Rajnikant or Salman Khan, nobody remembers their suits of Robot, Tiger or Dabangg. They ripple on their own and take down any threat from Titan. In a country given to hero worship, the onscreen persona cannot wash off on their crafted stardom. They are Rajnikant and Salman first and even the flick of their finger or a twitch of a brow is enough to blow the world away. Or galaxies for that matter. The superhero cannot take over the superstar. Except perhaps in the loveable don Munnabhai, who has no punch but common sense and a healing touch and who overpowered the muscular aura of Sunjay Dutt. But perhaps time has come to awaken our children to our civilisational heritage and learning templates, considering we have a huge literature, both vernacular and popular, to fall back upon. We need not reference ourselves against Marvel but create our own starship, to go where no Indian has gone before.
(The writer is Associate Editor,The Pioneer)
