From grease paint to green fields

Cine stars do their bit for farmers

From the times in the black and white era when silver screen idols used to raise money for flood affected and welfare of the Indian Army soldiers, collaborating for a common cause has been a constant in the lives of heroes and heroines all across the Indian film industry. Recent examples can be the celebrity shows and matches for the aid of Chennai flood victims and earlier the unfortunately affected citizens of Visakhapatnam during the Hudhud cyclone.

During normal times, sustaining the attitude of being useful and maintaining the tempo of selfless service is what delineates a few among the cine crowd. While it has often been whispered that big names like Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan with minimal publicity and Chiranjeevi through his blood bank have stood rock-like in support of the lesser privileged, a few among their contemporaries have gone back to their roots to showcase what they actually stand out for.

Prakash Raj, a noted character artiste of southern cinema has his Prakash Raj Foundation through which he adopted a village – Kondareddypally in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana- a year ago. He has introduced modern cultivation practices there. Of course, it has been public knowledge that actor Mahesh Babu has adopted two from his side- Burripalem in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh which is his native place and Siddapur in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana- presumably, to balance the political requirement of his yeomanly actions.

While it can be understood that cinema plays a larger-than-life role in the societies of southern India and hence stars can be justifiably happy in using the ‘being human’ route to justify a brand extension of their screen persona, a few examples from the upcountry cine field too merit attention here.

Nana Patekar, a maverick hero of Hindi cinema has been doing his bit to support the families of farmers who have lost their bread winners to suicide in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra. Going one step further, the recently successful Nawazuddin Siddiqui, brought about his own brand of agri revolution as he introduced a new French farming technology in his village situated in Uttar Pradesh.

Speaking to rediff.com he said: “We used to have a lot of water in our village. Five years ago, the water level was at 80 feet. Today, we have water at some 210 feet. Now, our area has been declared a 'dark zone'. The equipment (which I have introduced) is called Pivot Irrigation System, in which a nozzle is attached to a long pipe and it rotates and showers water on the farm like rain. Therefore, it uses only 25 per cent of water. I sat with the farmers from my village and the nearby villages, showed them a sample and asked them if it would work.

Ninety six per cent of them were convinced that it would work. So I am making it and will first use it on my land and see. Then I will pass it on to others who need it. We must create an awareness to save water because the next generation will need it. If we can save 75 per cent of water with this technology, then why not use it?” he says.

Yet another contemporary of his who has been noticed for his arresting performances in southern cinema- Kishore- has committed his off screen time to promoting organic farming for which he and his family spend time in a farm at the outskirts of Bengaluru. In a recent media interaction, unmindful of how his views would be received in the society, he thundered on behalf of the farmer: “No farmer was dying for lack of food. He is dying today for lack of money. A city-specific economy dictates what he has to buy, something he did not need earlier.

All the money is in the cities. So, instead of producing what he wanted, he has to grow what the city demands. The green revolution, the government policies and the city-centric economy are to blame for the suicides of farmers. Such political incorrectness coupled with a genuine desire to give back something useful to the people at large who have vested in them a superhero personality is a welcome trend, given that such disruptive efforts have more often than not, shaken up the powers-that-be to wake up and take notice of things which they should have in the normal course of their lives.

By K Naresh Kumar