The first visual of Anupam Kher as Tagore has met with objections. Some possibly to do with Kher’s non-actor persona, his brand of politics, his brandishings. More importantly, it has been said, no one should play Tagore. But why?

In Cecil B. DeMille’s film from 1955, The Ten Commandments, audiences heard God’s voice. There was no name in the credits, but two men lent their voices. One was Charlton Heston, who played Moses in the same film, and the other was one Jesse Jewkes. Even before that, in the silent era, many films were made on Jesus, but his face was not shown. There must have been a host of reasons for that, but as one historian puts it, one of the concerns was how can a sinful human portray a sinless Jesus?

Playing god

One of the first actors to play Jesus, face showing and all, was American actor Jeffrey Hunter “of clean-cut features and toothpaste smile” in the 1961 film King of Kings. A review from Photoplay magazine reads thus: “From the moment Hunter was cast there were those who decided he was the wrong actor for the job. No one can act Christ — an actor can only portray him. And it depends on what kind of man you are as to whether you do it well or badly.” India was no different. Dadasaheb Phalke made films such as Lanka Dahan and Shri Krishna Janma sometime in the early 20^th century. In Lanka Dahan, the muscular actor Anna Salunke played both Rama and Sita. And as late as 1975, a film like Jai Santoshi Maa was a runaway hit. Anita Guha who played the lead, however, openly said that she was a Kali devotee and had never heard of Santoshi Maa till she was offered the role.

Clay feat

If it is tricky to play god; it is even trickier to play those considered god-like for a variety of things. What is it that makes a producer or director cast someone to play Khudiram or Subhas Chandra Bose? Is it physical likeness alone, or is it spiritual alignment? Does race matter? And what about personal belief? And what if no box is ticked except the one for effort to channel? Nelson Mandela himself decided that Morgan Freeman should play him. And while Freeman may not have got the accent right, most people say that he approximated the essence of Madiba. Ben Kingsley shaved his head, lost weight and learnt to spin the charkha while he prepped to play Gandhi. He also read up about the man. But in an interview to the New York Times he said, “'When I have totally immersed myself in the mechanical, logical preparation… something else in me is awakened and begins to inform my work.” He added, “I can't tell you what it is…because I don't know.'' Which brings us back to the question, should Mr Kher or anyone else play Tagore? And the answer is --- why not? The man who wrote, “A hundred years from now/Who are you reading my poetry so earnestly”, would most likely be amused.