Politicians, education and Bollywood

“Our country needs to be educated and we need educated individuals to run the country,” says Katrina Kaif.

"Leaders need to take the right decisions for the country and the people as it is only then that the country can reach great heights and make a mark," she adds, at a panel discussion on whether it is necessary for an individual to be educated to run the country.

The discussion held at the MLR Convention Centre at Brigade Millennium saw the stars of the Bollywood film 'Raajneeti', including Katrina, Manoj Bajpayee, Ranbir Kapoor and Anjum Rajabali, as well as director Prakash Jha expressing their views with passion.

Ranbir said that an “uneducated person with common sense and potential is a thousand times better than an educated person who lacks these characteristics”.

“If a person is a visionary but cannot get education, he can still make a mark in politics as he has the required potential,” said Jha.

Bajpayee, however, did not agree. “If this is the case, everybody could quit studying and say that they have the required potential and become politicians,” he pointed out.

Anjum brought the discussion to an end by urging the educated people of the country to come forward and help take the country to greater heights.

At the press meet that followed the panel discussion, Jha revealed that he had drawn inspiration from The Mahabharata and that it took him and Anjum five years to write the script, the first draft of which was completed in 2004.

The director clarified that he has not tried to judge any particular person through the movie but said that it was a political drama that wining is not the only goal in democracy.

The conference came to an end with Katrina saying that the “movie is a once-in- a-lifetime experience” and that “one needs to be gifted to be a politician”.

'Raajneeti' will hit the theatres on June 4.