On Monday evening, a 3D vision of Narendra Modi appeared in Mumbai's Vile Parle neighbourhood and 100 other locations across the country, reiterating his promise to bring strong government and to reduce unemployment if he is elected prime minister.
But much of his audience wasn't interested in any of that. They were there to gawk at the technological wizardry that allowed a hologram of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate to address supporters around India on Ambedkar Jayanti, even as he delivered his speech in a studio in faraway Gujarat.
All the 2,500 seats were packed, several people milled around behind and a regular screen had been set out in the lane outside the ground for those who were not able to get place inside.
“These are such technological advances,” said Ramnath Tirodkar, an elderly resident of Vile Parle East. “Can you believe he actually spoke all the way from Gandhinagar and we got to see it here in Parle?”
These rallies, organised by Indian Citizens for Action and Governance, are the first live 3D political campaigns to be held across the country. Modi himself first used this technology while campaigning for the Gujarat assembly elections in 2012.
Modi did not shoot the rally using 3D cameras, and people at the event did not have to wear special 3D filter glasses to see him without a headache. His team instead used elements of a far older technology: holograms. A special camera projects the image on a series of white sheets to create the illusion.
In Vile Parle, however, the plastic sheet was not stretched correctly, making Modi appear somewhat wrinkled when he wandered to the edge of the stage or moved his hands too vehemently.
While national rallies tend to be pompous affairs as leader upon leader thanks and praises the other endlessly while waiting for the star attraction to arrive, this live screening allowed room for local improvisation.
The pre-rally entertainment at Vile Parle was poet Narendra Banjara, who in his speech spoke derisively of “biryani eaters”, mocked Lalu Prasad Yadav for stealing food meant for animals (a reference to the fodder scam for which Yadav was convicted), promised to have the Ram Mandir built in Ayodhya and said that everyone who wanted to give Kashmir away deserved to be punished.
He also claimed to have been the only one to have predicted Modi’s rise to power in Gujarat, and said that Modi must be removed from office – because it was time for him to go to Delhi.
The Parle crowd sat stiffly through his speech, though they obliged him by raising their hands when he said “Bharat mata ki jai.” They began to respond spontaneously by clapping and hooting only when Modi appeared to speak about his vision of development.
Even though the BJP prides itself on its efficiency, it's had repeated problems with the 3D rallies. The first set of events, scheduled for April 7, was postponed at the last minute to April 11 due to “technical reasons”. The venue to which this reporter went on April 11 turned out not to have received permission for it, although the screening went on as planned in other places across the country. This rally at a small closed ground in Vile Parle East in Mumbai was this reporter’s third attempt to see what the fuss was about.
Rakesh Singh, vice president of the Vile Parle BJP, estimated that 4,000 people attended the event. Among them was Parle resident Mamta Shringi, who was rather pleased that she'd spared the time to attend. “It looked as if he was really there,” she said. “Everything he said made so much sense.”
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But much of his audience wasn't interested in any of that. They were there to gawk at the technological wizardry that allowed a hologram of the Bharatiya Janata Party candidate to address supporters around India on Ambedkar Jayanti, even as he delivered his speech in a studio in faraway Gujarat.
All the 2,500 seats were packed, several people milled around behind and a regular screen had been set out in the lane outside the ground for those who were not able to get place inside.
“These are such technological advances,” said Ramnath Tirodkar, an elderly resident of Vile Parle East. “Can you believe he actually spoke all the way from Gandhinagar and we got to see it here in Parle?”
These rallies, organised by Indian Citizens for Action and Governance, are the first live 3D political campaigns to be held across the country. Modi himself first used this technology while campaigning for the Gujarat assembly elections in 2012.
Modi did not shoot the rally using 3D cameras, and people at the event did not have to wear special 3D filter glasses to see him without a headache. His team instead used elements of a far older technology: holograms. A special camera projects the image on a series of white sheets to create the illusion.
In Vile Parle, however, the plastic sheet was not stretched correctly, making Modi appear somewhat wrinkled when he wandered to the edge of the stage or moved his hands too vehemently.
While national rallies tend to be pompous affairs as leader upon leader thanks and praises the other endlessly while waiting for the star attraction to arrive, this live screening allowed room for local improvisation.
The pre-rally entertainment at Vile Parle was poet Narendra Banjara, who in his speech spoke derisively of “biryani eaters”, mocked Lalu Prasad Yadav for stealing food meant for animals (a reference to the fodder scam for which Yadav was convicted), promised to have the Ram Mandir built in Ayodhya and said that everyone who wanted to give Kashmir away deserved to be punished.
He also claimed to have been the only one to have predicted Modi’s rise to power in Gujarat, and said that Modi must be removed from office – because it was time for him to go to Delhi.
The Parle crowd sat stiffly through his speech, though they obliged him by raising their hands when he said “Bharat mata ki jai.” They began to respond spontaneously by clapping and hooting only when Modi appeared to speak about his vision of development.
Even though the BJP prides itself on its efficiency, it's had repeated problems with the 3D rallies. The first set of events, scheduled for April 7, was postponed at the last minute to April 11 due to “technical reasons”. The venue to which this reporter went on April 11 turned out not to have received permission for it, although the screening went on as planned in other places across the country. This rally at a small closed ground in Vile Parle East in Mumbai was this reporter’s third attempt to see what the fuss was about.
Rakesh Singh, vice president of the Vile Parle BJP, estimated that 4,000 people attended the event. Among them was Parle resident Mamta Shringi, who was rather pleased that she'd spared the time to attend. “It looked as if he was really there,” she said. “Everything he said made so much sense.”
Modi's first 3-D speech in 2012.