On screen,sons talent will matter,not caste: A proud Paswan

The fond father tells a story. When Dev Anand was young,it was said in Bihar that he should be banned from wearing a black suit because girls would die just looking at him! Now,theyre talking of Chirags light eyes8230;

Back in Hajipur,the constituency Paswan won with a margin of 4,70,000 votes in 1989,famously writing himself into the Guinness Book of World Records,more people flock to Chirag than to me,he says.

Thats an exaggeration,even though the world has changed since 1989 and Paswan presides over a receding party after he himself lost from Hajipur in 2009.

He will watch his son on the silver screen as a viewer,not a politician,says Paswan. Nor as a Dalit,because The audience only sees how powerful the actor is. If you have the looks of a superstar and the talent8230; the player of the game is not known by his caste or religion.

Yet,Paswan remembers the 1959 Bimal Roy film Sujata as the story of a Dalit girl,and the more recent Kamal Hassan-starrer Chachi 420 for its protagonist Jaiprakash Paswans surname,so rare in upper-caste dominated mainstream cinema.

Darker memories rush,almost unbidden,into this shiny moment. I remember wanting to be part of the film world when I was young. Who doesnt? But in my circumstances,it was only a dream. For the son of a Dalit farmer,Bollywood dreams would remain a secret he shared with his mirror. Realistically,I could only aim to be a chaprasi in a production house, he says. Today,his sons ambition is To be at the top,competing with the Khans.

Chirag is ready to be anointed First Dalit Hero but it is his father who warms to the theme. All over the country,weaker sections will feel proud at the rise of a superstar who has made it without concession or reservation, he says.

Chirag himself wears the mantle lightly,almost carelessly,because Eventually it all boils down to talent. I dont believe in caste and religion. Talent is all.

A family friend offered to produce his first film and being his fathers son meant his only struggle was to get under the skin of the character. The industry has accepted him with open arms,says Chirag. I will definitely see what I can do for the upliftment of weaker sections, he says,but what bothers him most is the way the industry portrays politicians,bureaucrats and policemen as corrupt.

Things are different now,says Paswan,as half-boast,half-lament. In my time,we Dalits were not allowed to sit in the bus. That kind of open discrimination is no longer there,except in the village8230; For a ministers or MPs son today,discrimination is not experienced,only felt when he hears his fathers or grandfathers story. For this generation,or a section of it,the leap is from Delhi to Mumbai,says Paswan,just as his own generation struggled to make it to Delhi from the village. Caste is becoming class, he says.

If all goes according to plan,the road to Mumbai will lead back again to Delhi. In 10 to 15 years,he Chirag will come into politics. Then,his film career will be a plus point, says Paswan.

But for now the genial survivor from the countrys caste cauldron of Bihar is taking his cue from the conceits and claims of the world his son seeks to conquer. As Chirag takes aim at the stars,his father is learning to change the subject from the inequalities that are still a drag on aspirations at ground level. We films dont bring change in society,cinema only reflects social change, says Chirag. I am an outcome of that change.

These days,the Paswan household is tuning into katto gilehri,the Bhojpuri item song featuring Chirag and Shweta Tiwari. Paswan,who has not watched a complete film after Sholay,is still awed by a visit to the sets when the number was filmed: There is no night or day. Suddenly a village is created. Suddenly,there is a mela fair, he says.