The Power of Presence

LAST YEAR, “RIZZ” was the Oxford “Word of the Year”. Although I’m sure Open readers would already know it means something like “style, charm, attractiveness”. It’s thought to be derived from “charisma”, one of those impossible-to-define words, but is something we recognise when we see it.

“Charisma” was originally associated with divine or superhuman favour that made someone the focus of attention. Now, it is usually linked to film or other stars, politicians as well as religious leaders. It is also a loaded term—a charismatic person is often seen as beguiling and able to convince another of things that may not be true.

A film star’s charisma works at many levels. For example, a hyperstar like Shah Rukh Khan has charisma on and off-screen, as well as in real life. His ability to charm is legendary and works at many levels; fortunately, all of them seemingly for the better.

I wondered how it was possible that Jackson Lamb (played by Gary Oldman), the physically and otherwise repulsive spook and spy-catcher in Slow Horses (Apple TV+, 2022–), manifests charisma. I just finished binge-watching the three series in three nights, as I’d delayed enrolling for yet another subscription service. Slow Horses is fully paisa vasool, up there with the best series I’ve ever watched. An outstanding production, it benefits from superb casting and acting to give us memorable characters. The stories are so compelling that you can’t wait to find what happens next, even when they strain credibility, while the entire look of the series, from costume to locations, is coherent. It is also full of powerful, quotable dialogues.

Gary Oldman is undeniably a major figure in British cinema and has a place on the global stage as one of its highest-paid actors and winner of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and several BAFTAs. I’ve not seen him in off-screen appearances so can’t say anything about his off-screen charisma, though he’s not at all like Jackson Lamb.

Jackson Lamb is revolting. Rude, flatulent, and otherwise malodorous, he is mistaken for a homeless person when he goes for his occupational health checkup. One scene has him giving himself a wash in his office bathroom and it has stuck in my mind (not in a good way). Lamb is nasty, personal, and abusive. So, even though repulsed, why do we end up liking him and wanting him to come out on top? What sort of charisma is this?

We are not given Lamb’s backstory. This is unlike most Hindi films where the lead character’s motivation is set out. It’s a somewhat unusual name though it doesn’t have any Dickensian style meaning. Gary Oldman brings George Smiley with him (and there’s even a joke about it) but the characters are far apart. Lamb works for MI5, whereas the most famous fictional MI6 agent is the dashing James Bond.

Why has Lamb been sent to Slough House, a place for secret service personnel whose misconduct is significant but not enough to be sacked? Who does he have relationships with? Why does he live in his office? Why are his juniors so devoted to him? Why do his superiors (in rank) acknowledge his outstanding skills?

All we know is that Lamb is single, leads an astonishingly unhealthy lifestyle, eats junk food, is sedentary, and smokes. He has no friends and no life beyond work. He seems to be an old-fashioned, white, working-class Londoner who gets the better of toffs.

However, Lamb is always in control of any situation. He is several steps ahead of everyone on-screen as well as in the audience. He observes, thinks and plans. He is clever, admired for his intelligence and powers of observation, but he is not nice.

Perhaps, Lamb is in the tradition of famous fictional detectives such as Sherlock Holmes (although he was not noted for his poor personal hygiene), who was also deeply antisocial and unpleasant in many ways, and yet has been adored for over a century. The character has charisma which binds the viewer to them in a way that differs from the way lead stars are normally presented as physically desirable, worth emulating, and so on. Here, it is striking that the hero is repulsive, driving us away, yet we want to see more of them.

So, as someone susceptible to the charisma of Indian film stars, I wondered whether Indian films produce similar figures. India’s most famous detective, Byomkesh Bakshi, who first appeared in Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay’s short story in 1934, is in many ways similar to Holmes. However, he lives a normal life, and anyone played by Uttam Kumar (Satyajit Ray’s Chiriyakhana, 1967) cannot be repulsive.

Are there other possible figures who we loathe but fall under their charisma? Perhaps, Gabbar Singh (Sholay, 1975), who was evil personified? A dacoit with no backstory, he is just what he is. Even next to a host of major stars, Gabbar Singh was perhaps the most memorable character in the film, his quick wit and way with words (written by Salim-Javed) made us respond to this psychopath.

Perhaps, Bhiku Mhatre in Satya (1998)? The film is even named after another character but the gangster Mhatre (Manoj Bajpayee) stole the show with his complex character, quotable dialogues (Mumbai ka king kaun? Bhiku Mhatre), and wit, written by Anurag Kashyap.

Another loathsome appearance was Ranveer Singh as Sultan Alauddin Khalji in Padmaavat (2018), who again had sharp dialogues, being clever and brave. Ranveer was the biggest star of the movie, and brought that aura, with Shahid Kapoor’s Maharawal Ratan Singh being a rather dull ‘goodie’ to Ranveer’s outrageous ‘baddie’. (No personal hygiene issues: Khalji even has a song in the bath.)

A person, rather than a character, who had great charisma but was seen as complicated was Kishore Kumar. An unusually brilliant talent, Kishore took on many roles in the film industry, not just as one of its greatest playback singers, but also as a popular live performer and actor. He was famous for his eccentricities and erratic behaviour throughout his life and always said that he didn’t have any friends (Pritish Nandy’s interview with him, available online, shows this in a few words). Many in the industry didn’t understand his charisma and were baffled how he married such beautiful women, especially his second wife, Madhubala, the love of whose life was one of the most charismatic heroes in Indian film history, Dilip Kumar. Kishore was not a physically repulsive person by any means but he repulsed people deliberately with his strange behaviour. Perhaps, his eccentricities were part of his performance as a character rather than as himself. Yet, he remains one of the most loved figures in the film industry, his songs remaining among the most popular of all Hindi films even today, almost 40 years after his death. Kishore had an extraordinary voice, but perhaps it was the way he performed the songs, singing the words that expressed the emotions of the “average Indian” that made him one of the most charismatic and popular characters in the industry.

Perhaps, we underestimate the importance of words, dialogue, or lyrics, as the source of a person’s charisma, focusing instead on the person’s physical attractiveness. It may be the skill of expressing feelings better than we can, through skilled dialogue writing or lyrics. Notably, stardom in Indian cinema is often created by film songs. Yet, star charisma is also seen in some figures who don’t have songs, such as Gabbar Singh, who had some of the best dialogues of the film while Kishore, though often an invisible playback singer, had some of the best songs.

Oh, Slow Horses has a fabulous title song, though not sung playback by Jackson Lamb but performed by Mick Jagger at his finest. Charismatic as ever, even at 80, he has written the lyrics for many generations of music lovers.

Amjad KhanBollywoodcinemaGabbar SinghPadmaavatShah Rukh KhanSholay