Goodbye… Sundance kid
The last few weeks have brought heartbreaking news; the first was the passing on of SangKoo Yun, who was nominated RI President, but stepped down due to a terrible health condition. His loss has been captured in this issue with moving, heartfelt tributes by two past RI Presidents – KR Ravindran and Shekhar Mehta – who knew him well.
Another great tragedy was the demise of the swoon-worthy Hollywood icon Robert Redford. Almost every woman of an era gone by who watched him on the silver screen, which he lit up with his magical smile, had a crush on him. And almost every man admired and envied him. Who can forget the dapper Sundance Kid in the space he shared with another great Hollywood legend Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)?
Redford had a quiet charm and natural grace, and despite being a Hollywood celebrity, his friends say he displayed humility in all he did. His co-star Barbara Streisand in the movie The way we were, who had a massive crush on him, described him as a “smart private, shy but self- assured intellectual artist… whose work was skilfully subtle, restrained and yet deeply emotional.” But, in the times to come, he will be remembered for being much more than a stunningly handsome great actor. Because he was much more than that.
He was also a keen listener, progressive thinker, a fierce environmentalist and a diversity warrior. Unlike most successful superstars he did not bask in his success to snuggle into an uber luxurious life. In 1981 he established the Sundance Institute to give new and struggling artists the platform to develop their skills, and give expression to new, bold and independent work. As he himself said, artists of every hue needed “to have the freedom of expression to tell our stories, in our own way about the human condition, the complexities of life, the world around us.”
And most, important, as an influential celebrity, he spoke up for what was right, unlike our Bollywood and other Indian film industry greats who have forgotten what it is like to have a spine. Not in a shrill voice, but firmly and with quiet and restrained dignity. While accepting an Oscar for lifetime achievement in 2002, addressing his peers in the audience, which included all-time great actors and directors, he talked about the “solid and healthy” film industry they shared. But he warned that in the coming years, they’d “have to make sure to embrace the risks as well as the sure things, to make sure that the freedom of our artistic expression is nurtured and kept alive, because I believe that keeping diversity alive will help keep our industry alive.”
Next, he expressed his concern for the “sea change” that the world they lived in was undergoing. “And as we all struggle to find our way in it, to get a grip and make sense out of the chaos and the destruction and the tragedy, one word that emerges is the word freedom… its importance, its rarity…and how fortunate we are to have it. Such freedom is a gift and not to be taken lightly. The glory of art is not only that it can survive change, but lead it.”
Ponder over his words, and the position of influence in the world of art that Redford held, when he uttered them. They are the words of a thinker, a leader… they are over two decades old, but even more relevant in our world which is fast spiralling into a deeper chaos, destruction and darkness…
Rasheeda Bhagat
