Gayab

So the movie8217;s fairly awful. But what about loyalty? Where are all the bhujia-munching Bikaner residents 8212; the very same people who voted Dharmendra into Parliament in May 2004 and pasted 8216;8216;Missing8217;8217; posters when he didn8217;t show up subsequently. Suraj Talkies was meant to be bustling with fans seeing their recently-elected MP back in action.

8216;8216;Oh but we just can8217;t bear to see it,8217;8217; say a group of boys before walking out, 20 minutes into the show. 8216;8216;What is wrong with Dharmendra?8217;8217;

The bored projectionist at the movie hall admits it is about the worst opening for a film in Bikaner8217;s long memory. 8216;8216;We are going to replace it this weekend,8217;8217; he says softly. 8216;8216;Any old film will do better.8217;8217;

One hoarse fan in a one-horse town
A few miles away, Pritam Suther is distraught. Owner of Dharmendra Colour Lab, he can8217;t bear the criticism. 8216;8216;The choice of movie wasn8217;t good,8217;8217; he says. 8216;8216;But hits and misses are part of the game. People are more critical now because he is our MP. Rather than grumble, they should go out in large numbers and see the film, make it a hit.8217;8217;

In Bikaner, they know Suther as Dharmendra8217;s biggest fan, the one who personally greets the star on his birthday every year and was even invited to son Bobby Deol8217;s wedding! The small town photgrapher8217;s studio is splattered with his icon8217;s posters and he never forgets to light an agarbatti before them. 8216;8216;My own personal temple,8217;8217; he explains coyly.

8216;8216;I was thrilled when he agreed to contest elections from here and happier when he won,8217;8217; Suther goes on. 8216;8216;People can complain, but he8217;ll make a difference. He8217;ll change the face of Bikaner.8217;8217;

But in this desert town, Suther is one of the few who has access to the VIP MP 8212; indeed, he8217;s one of the fewer who still has hope. Most others talk of Dharmendra as 8216;8216;a flop show8217;8217; 8212; and not necessarily in the context of his film.

Politics as guest appearance
THE Dainik Lokmat office is small and crammed with history. Started in 1947 by freedom fighter Ambalal Mathur, the eight-page black and white newspaper likes to say it as it is. Nobody here hides the fact that they don8217;t really like Dharmendra8217;s star status. And so they started the 8216;8216;hunt8217;8217; for the film star.

Tired of waiting for Dharmendra to make a special appearance on the streets of Bikaner, newspaper owner Ashok Mathur printed a 8216;8216;Missing Person8217;8217; advertisement. The ad worked like magic. Dharmendra promptly packed his bags and arrived in Bikaner. It was October 12, five months since the election.

8216;8216;Bikaner has a right to get angry,8217;8217; he said the minute he got there. 8216;8216;I was constantly thinking of Bikaner, even when I was in Bombay. I will do anything for Bikaner, but please don8217;t wave black flags in my face.8217;8217;

Having thus 8216;8216;charmed his way into the city8217;8217;, he began a whirlwind tour. He hurtled from one inauguration to another, smiling at college girls, posing for innumerable photographs, laying foundation stones.

And then, on the fourth day, he fell ill.
The 10-day trip was abruptly cut short, Dharmendra spent his final night holed up in a BSF guesthouse. Nobody in Bikaner has seen him since.

During the visit, a farmers8217; agitation over water was on in parts of the constituency. Dharmendra was supposed to meet some of the farmers but was advised against it. A week after he left, water riots broke out in neighbouring Sriganganagar. Bikaner awaits its kismet; Dharmendra8217;s given them Kis Kiski Kismat

Calling Surat, calling Surat: Is our MP there? Anywhere?
AT the BJP office in Bikaner, half-hearted attempts are periodically made to get in touch with the 8216;8216;Boss8217;8217;. The process of contacting the party8217;s MP is about as convoluted as the script of a Hindi movie.

Since Dharmendra is an 8216;8216;outsider8217;8217; in Bikaner and doesn8217;t know the local party workers, he operates through a customs inspector in Surat, a man called Surinder Dange.

After the water riots, Gopal Gehlot, BJP district president, called agent Dange in Surat: 8216;8216;Boss ko bataen, situation kharab hai, teen log mar gayein hain. Kuch karne boliye Tell the boss that things are bad, three people have died. He should do something.8217;8217;

BJP workers don8217;t like it. 8216;8216;Direct access to hona chahiye There should be direct access,8217;8217; they mutter, before being directed to prepare for Murli Manohar Joshi8217;s visit to the city. As they walk down the pan-stained staircase of a shopping complex, they grumble about how Dharmendra has never visited the BJP office.

8216;8216;Of course the people have made a mistake,8217;8217; says Arvind Ojha, an old Bikaner hand who works with NGO Urmul. 8216;8216;He came for a week and was just busy inaugurating 8230; We can8217;t even meet him, he doesn8217;t have an office here and no representative either. For the people of any region, a political voice is important. And today, after years, we feel Bikaner has no political voice.8217;8217;

And then the humble charmer fell ill
OJHA has probably neither met nor heard of 26-year-old Anirudh Chaudhary. A former police constable, Chaudhary is Dharmendra8217;s contact man in Bikaner. Member of the Dharmendra Youth Brigade, he is gatekeeper, post office, PRO rolled into one.

8216;8216;Ritu Bahar8217;8217;, the Chaudhary residence in Bikaner8217;s JNV Colony, is where letters addressed to 8216;8216;Dharmendra, Film Hero, MP, Bikaner8217;8217; turn up. When Dharmendra was in town, this was his camp office.

8216;8216;I am a big fan and whenever he is in town I am with him like a shadow,8217;8217; gushes the tall and burly Chaudhary, a Jat, like his master and, it may be added, like Mallika Sherawat. 8216;8216;And people are not upset with him because he doesn8217;t come here often, they just want to take autographs and photographs. Out of 100 people who want to visit him, only two have a problem. All the rest just come to see a star.8217;8217;

But aware at the resentment following Dharmendra8217;s post-election disappearance, in mid-October Chaudhary made sure the star stayed in the circuit house and not a hotel. 8216;8216;And he met so many people,8217;8217; says Chaudhary. 8216;8216;In fact, he also held a meeting with the district administration and discussed problems and solutions.8217;8217; And then the poor dear fell ill.

Hero to zero, the non-performer MP
ACCORDING to the district administration, Dharmendra has already allocated over Rs 50,000 of his MPLAD fund 8212; Rs 2 crore a year 8212; for different projects, including a blood separator at a local hospital. 8216;8216;He has initiated discussion on improving the Rang Manch here and also for cleaning up Soor Sagar Lake.8217;8217;

But in subdued tones they do admit the MP has not been able to attend too many meetings so far. 8216;8216;In a way, he is a bit lucky. Rajasthan has gone from one election to another in this one year,8217;8217; says an official. 8216;8216;We have been bound by the election code of conduct frequently. Even now we can8217;t do anything till the municipal elections and panchayat samiti elections are over.8217;8217;

Interestingly, neither Dharmendra nor his staff are even aware of the committees he is ex oficio member of. 8216;8216;We have not yet been informed of the parliamentary committees we are part of,8217;8217; is the film star8217;s first reaction. When it is clarified that we8217;re referring to district-level committees, he says: 8216;8216;Oh, in my constituency 8230; Well there are a couple.8217;8217;

So far Dharmendra has not made it to any of the Panchayat Samiti meetings and neither is he aware of the Zilla Grameen Vikas Adhikaran, which meets every two months to review rural development projects.

They had a dream, a fantasy
8216;8216;LOOK, I belong to the place and sometimes I would find it difficult to attend these things,8217;8217; admits former Bikaner MP Rameshwar Dudi, who spent most of his MPLAD funds on drought alleviation. 8216;8216;But I managed quite a few. I have no idea how Dharmendra is going to attend any. He has already lost touch with the people. Where was he when Ganganagar was burning?8217;8217;

This is a question many are asking. And in his defence, one acolyte says: 8216;8216;Dharmendraji is interested in doing work. He feels his presence is not so important. But people don8217;t get that. They want his autograph all the time.8217;8217;

Not all voters buy this. One of them postponed his wedding twice because he wanted his MP to be present. Some put off inauguration ceremonies, others hound Chaudhary for an appointment. Everyday, someone in Bikaner turns up with a request for the missing MP. All they hear is the distant roar of Dharmendra8217;s voice, 8216;8216;Me coming 8230; me coming.8217;8217;

We waiting 8230; we waiting.

8216;People love me as an actor, don8217;t see me as an MP8217;

We met at Nature8217;s, one of Bikaner8217;s popular ice-cream parlours. Two scoops of ice cream and a shake later, Anirudh Chaudhary was still trying to get in touch with his matinee idol cum MP-icon, Dharmendra. The first call was to Yogesh Chhabra, Dharmendra8217;s cousin. Pleasantries were exchanged, and a new number jotted down.

Bikaner has been missing you 8230;
I know, people want to see Dharmendra all the time. Actually they have a right to be angry. After all only people who love you get angry with you. Unfortunately I could not come here earlier. I spent August and September in the US since son Sunny8217;s back was not okay.

How was your homecoming in mid-October?
It was nice to be back in Bikaner. I attended maximum functions, laid foundation stones and inaugurated schools. I have also started using my MPLAD funds. I went to a hospital and gave money for some equipment there.

The other big problem for Bikaner is the Soor Sagar Lake. I have written to the related Central government ministers. I even visited a few villages.

But what about water for farmers?
That is the burning issue today and four people have already died in the ongoing agitation. If I could, I would change the course of all rivers towards Rajasthan.

I met Amarinder Singh and he spoke to me like an emotional farmer. I told him Rajasthan needs water but then so does Punjab. This does not have an overnight solution.

In the four days you spent in Bikaner, did you get down to serious work, considering you were mobbed everywhere?
People love Dharmendra as an actor and I can8217;t get away from that. It8217;s a bit difficult because they don8217;t see me as their MP.

Your comeback hasn8217;t gone down too well. Are you disappointed?
Not at all 8230; I have moved on from Kis Kiski Kismat. I am writing my own script now. The movie will star Salman Khan and me.

Being an MP and back to acting, when do you find time to write scripts?
I have been writing this for quite some time. It relaxes me to be in touch with my creative side. But yes, now with this added responsibility, I do have to work much harder.

You know there is Parliament to attend, Bikaner to visit and the silver screen always beckons 8230;