For the People

IT8217;S as though the three decades of work I8217;ve put in doesn8217;t matter. All people can talk about is the film,8217;8217; compl...

IT8217;S as though the three decades of work I8217;ve put in doesn8217;t matter. All people can talk about is the film,8217;8217; complains 57-year-old Brinda Karat, social activist, now actress.

The office of the All India Democratic Women8217;s Association AIDWA, the women8217;s wing of the CPI M, is as dreary as the Delhi winter. The rooms are bound by blank grey walls and a cold draught follows you everywhere. The severe austerity of Karat8217;s space is broken by two photographs: Of Sushila Gopalan, AIDWA8217;s founding general-secretary, and one of CPI stalwarts BT Randive and P Sunderayya.

In her trademark handloom sari and large bindi, Karat8217;s every bit the conscientious socialist.8216;8216;My mentors, whom I had the privilege of working with,8217;8217; Karat says of the photographs.

After 35 years in politics, the AIDWA general secretary8212;a card-carrying CPI M member and women8217;s rights activist8212;has suddenly come into into sharp focus after the release of her niece Sonali Bose8217;s feature Amu. The seasoned left winger makes her celluloid debut as the protagonist8217;sadoptive mom.

An activist playing an activist isn8217;t that far fetched. So did the similarities help? 8216;8216;Perhaps her politics and strong convictions are similar,8217;8217; is all she8217;s ready to concede.

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I8217;m a full-time functionary of the party, for God8217;s sake. Anyone affiliated with an organisation has to let it know before doing something out of the ordinary

Karat says the rush of attention bothers her, especially the debates over why she required the Party8217;s authorisation to essay the part. 8216;8216;I8217;m a full-time functionary of the party, for God8217;s sake. Anyone who is affiliated with an organisation has to let it know when he or she decides to do something out of the ordinary,8217;8217; she says. And will she ever act again? 8216;8216;Never, this was the last time,8217;8217; she asserts.

Her loyalty to the cause was born in the late 8217;60s, when she quit a glamorous London-based gig with Air India, during the heady flower-power/ anti-Vietnam War era, 8216;8216;Nobody who was in London in those days could have been untouched by the degree of passion and conviction.8217;8217; Karat left London for Calcutta where she formally joined the CPI M.

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Decades later, Karat8217;s in a film set against the backdrop of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots; the movie is heavily critical of the supposed implicitness of the then Congress Party government. But in the compromising real world, Karat8217;s Left Front8212;Congress8217; strongest critic on the 8217;84 riots8212;is now also their largest ally. 8216;8216;There is no contradiction. Supporting the government was not a party decision, but a decision of the people,8217;8217; she says.

And with the upcoming elections in three states, Karat will have her hands full explaining her party8217;s contradictory partnership. Also on the anvil is the 18th annual conference of the CPI M in April. So did her fellow comrades watch her film? 8216;8216;I don8217;t think many of them have actually seen it. The few that have, liked it.Besides, PVR cinemas are too expensive for most of the people I work with,8217;8217; she says.