The desi Superman

In the last two and a half months, there have been reports of children in different parts of the country but predominantly rural India, allegedly dying orinjuring themselves either because they had imitated Shaktimaan8217;s stunts flying, spinning like a top or because they were hoping the TV super hero would swoop down from nowhere and save them just as he does in the serial. Khanna has strenuously argued that these incidents are unrelated to his hijinx, are part of a conspiracy against him and his serial. However, as reported in this newspaper on Friday, Doordarshan8217;s investigations revealed that at least one incident, was linked to Shaktimaan. Consequently, the serial has been taken off air.

Who is this Shaktimaan, flying in the face of controversy? 8220;Shaktimaan is ..a boy born in an Indian family who is adopted by 7 gurus who bless him with Yogic Shakti to help him combat evil and protect mankind,8221; is how a Shaktimaan press release describes him. Wow. But Shaktimaan is also carbon-copied from Superman, the American comic book super hero, right down to his double 8212; Gangadhar 8212; who like Clark Kent, wears spectacles and works in a newspaper office witha female journalist who resembles Lois Lane.The difference between the two is that Superman began as a comic book whereas Shaktimaan was first a real8217; man on the TV screen and only subsequently transformed into a comic book character. It8217;s a critical difference: because children see Shaktimaan not as an animated being but a blood and guts human being 8212; just like them. If he can fly, why can8217;t they? Ay, that8217;s the confusion.

Mukesh Shaktimaan Khanna8217;s television career has been dogged by this identity crisis. He didn8217;t always see himself as a super hero who was going to save the children of his nation. He trained to be a lawyer instead: which perhaps explains why he speaks so fluently in his own defense on television or in person. But the laws of destiny and his personal predilections led him to an acting diploma from FTII, Pune. He first acted in films approximately 20 years ago, playing a few eminently forgettable lead roles in highly forgettable films. He switched to character parts but they were hardlymore memorable.

It was B.R.Chopra8217;s mythological Mahabharat which shaped Khanna8217;s destiny as an actor and as a man possessed with a mission and illusions of grandeur?. For surely the ambition to become a larger than life character who will educate the masses and our children, about the country8217;s 8220;rich cultural heritage8221;, who will also send them to school, make them drink milk, was born with that epic? So was the confusion of identities: like all leading characters in the serial, Khanna would be known by his television persona: Bheesham Pitamaha 8211; the wise one.

In his case, one persona was to succeed another. Khanna went on to pursue a television career, acting in approximately 10 serials including, Viswamitra, Chandrakanta, Viswas. But he was stil Bheesham. It was only as Marshall that Khanna was able to erase Bheesham from the public memory and give birth to a new character: the super sleuth who sought the triumph of good over evil. The step from Marshall to Shaktimaan would be a small one.

Khannahas had Shaktimaan on his mind for a decade. But the super hero had to wait to take take off until September 6, 1997: show was 56 episodes old and was slated to continue till it completed 104.

Not any longer. Or so it would appear with its suspension. However, Khanna is a fighter. And Shaktimaan has brought him material fortune and other wordly fame. Each week, boasts Khanna, he receives thousands of letters, from parents, children extolling the virtues of Shaktimaan. Not surprising: the world over, super heroes are admired by children. The public response, nay adulation, appears to have gone to his head. Khanna, a member of the BJP, is now insisting on his innocence, perhaps believing he is still Bheesham the embodiement of truth.

Shaktimaan is not universally injurious to children8217;s health; but it is influencing them. At the end of each episode, Khanna would hector that8217;s the only word for it the audience: do this, don8217;t do that. Children were listening he has the letters to prove it. But childrenare copy cats: they not only do as he says but as he does, too. Hence their imitation of his stunts, his acts. Khanna appearing as Khanna on TV, has at length explained that the stunts are computer-generated animation; but they do create the illusion of life. So children will imitate Shaktimaan.

Khanna insists on the good he doing; ignores the possible harm. But if even one child dies because of his superhero, he must carry some responsibility for it on those broad, superhuman shoulders. Having said that, Doordarshan8217;s decision to ban the serial is not a good one. For the problem is not Shaktimaan: the serial merely illustrates the susceptibility of children in what is still a predominantly rural, underdeveloped, feudal world. Illiterate, ill-equipped to separate fantasy from reality, new to this medium called television, they need to help to cope with the modern information society.

They need to be taught that there are no supermen, only men.