Secret Superstar — Choosing the lesser devil
(Minor spoilers ahead. It reveals the plot but the plot is so simple and predictable that it wouldn’t matter!)
While the movie Secret Superstar is about a teenager trying to achieve her dream of becoming a singing sensation with her mother’s unflinching support, what stood out for me in the film was the difficult choices the main character (the teenager girl, Insia) had to make to realize her dreams.
At the core of these difficult choices was the decision to choose the lesser devil. On one side was her father, who terrorized everyone in their house, and on the other side was Shakti Kumar, an infamous musician ostracized from music community. Her father was the devil she had known all her life and knew what to expect. Shakti Kumar was someone she only knew through news, award functions, reality shows etc. on TV. At one point in the story Insia has to make the difficult choice of choosing between these two devils. While she wants to move as far away from her father as possible, she just can’t do so. And she hates Shakti Kumar, he disgusts her. He is the last person she would want to meet, let alone seek help.
Eventually, circumstances and her desire to pursue singing pushes her to make the difficult choice of choosing Shakti Kumar (no surprises there) over her father. As a viewer I may feel the decision was easy, but when I imagined myself in her situation, I don’t think I’d have had the courage to take this giant leap of faith. Shakti Kumar may have turned out to be a sexual predator or may have exploited Insia for her beautiful voice and then left her without giving her any payment or credit. Choosing unknown devil, no matter how bad the known devil may be, is never easy. Perhaps only an strong unflinching desire to pursue your passion (or a purpose) can help you find the much needed courage to surrender yourself to the mercy of the unknown.
That’s what is truly compelling about Secret Superstar. The chance that a person (irrespective of age) may be forced to take due to circumstances and how one’s passion can be a guiding light to achieve one’s dreams. While the film takes a fairy tale approach, in real life when we make such choices, we must make an informed decision. Each one of us pursuing something beyond one’s comfort zone and societal norms will face many unknown devils, but if our faith and passion is strong, we must find the courage to take that giant leap.
Not a blind one but an informed one.
