The race for the Presidency has begun. I've been thinking about it a lot, having just hosted a house party for Bernie Sanders. His campaign will be run on the shoe leather of volunteers rather than on the donations of the wealthy. And as with any election, much will depend upon getting people registered to vote and actually to the polls.
Y'all know my fascination with Bollywood movies. Well, one recently surprised me. On the surface of it, I expected a breezy, cheezy comedy. But as it turns, out, it was all about facing entrenched incumbents, battling corruption, and getting people to turn out to vote so as to take back their future.
The movie in question is Bhoothnath Returns, a ghost story about politics. Yes, a ghost story -- and the ghost (you could consider him a dark horse) is running for office.
The story begins when Bhoothnath the ghost returns to the Afterlife after having failed to scare anybody with his first haunt. He is pretty much a laughingstock in the Great Beyond. But he gets a second chance -- to go back and try to scare some kids.
His first forays fail miserably. But then he happens upon a street urchin who can actually see him. And together, they manage to scare some kids -- in such a way that the kids invite the urchin to play with them. Score! Because this bright little kid lives in the vast, vast slums of Mumbai, he did not have playmates from a higher economic background before he met the ghost. His mom is a widow and has trouble making the rent. The urchin earns a little money by showing his slums to wealthy tourists who want to see the gritty side of India. As the little boy says, there are so many stories going on in the slums, it is like seeing ten movies for the price of one, at any given time. (This little guy can sell anything.)
The ghost wants to help the boy. They figure out a clever way to make some money. It seems that there are a bunch of partly constructed buildings that cannot be completed because they are haunted by ghosts with unfinished business. Usually, the unfinished business has to do with functionaries who won't do their jobs without a bribe -- like an insurance agent who won't process a claim for a ghost's widow. Soon, our ghost and urchin have a thriving business in scaring people into doing what they are supposed to do thus making hauntings stop -- the building owners pay the boy for this service. Soon, not only can the boy and his mom pay the rent, they can also afford luxuries like a new sofa or a refrigerator.
But then they run into something that isn't readily solved. One building, owned by the local gangster/politician, is haunted by so many murdered people that only cleaning up the political process will bring some salve to their souls. The boy persuades the ghost to run against the gangster. Hey, the ghost can't be threatened with death! No need to fear the dacoit's goons! And as it turns out, there is no law preventing a dead person from running for office. Ultimately, it is the sheer scale of the misery of the poor that persuades the ghost to be a candidate.
It becomes clear that the only way the ghost is going to win is by getting people to register to vote -- and then for them all to vote. As it turns out, people are so fed up with the status quo that they are ready to do this -- and they persuade each other to register with a strange noncompliance action. "Are you registered to vote? No? I can't hear you..." People who are not registered are refused any sort of service (taxi, the counter at the corner store, anything!) because without registration, they have no voice and cannot be heard.
Your vote is your voice.
Even the spirits of the Afterworld get behind the ghostly candidate because, as they will be reincarnated onto Earth, it behooves them to be sure it is a better world.
Well, the story goes on from there. I encourage you to give it a look. If you want to know if the ghost wins or not, you will have to watch! The movie is on Netflix with subtitles. And I believe it is available elsewhere on the internet for free.
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