Hirak Raja – A Character Biopsy

 

Any ardent fan of Ray or his Gupi Bagha trilogy is no stranger to Hirak Raja. He is the epitome of a shrewd politician handcrafted by Ray for a timeless reference in any era to describe an oppressive political force across geographies. Let us indulge in taking a deep dive to explore the diverse layers of this immortal malevolent fictional figure.

Hirak Raja is an expert in maintaining a benevolent image globally. He is meticulous in sending invites to neighboring rulers to attend his ‘Borshopurti Utsob’ which portrays his kingdom as a welfare state and his reign as a paragon of monarchy.

He also seems to have a good taste for music initially. So, he particularly invites Gupi and Bagha knowing about the accolades they received worldwide for their musical endeavors which magically petrifies the audience. He is so overweening that he fails to realize that this very power of the musical duo will eventually lead to his downfall. Just like politicians who enjoy the music till the musician sings in their praise and adorn them with Moha-Gayok titles, he is outraged when one of his subjects sings criticizing his rule.

He has a spectacular council of ministers gracing their respective ministries and accomplishing their goals with flying colors without any objection as if they have absolutely majority. They are yearning to wag their tails to the king’s wishes and implements his dictatorial policies religiously and hence occasionally rewarded with pricey diamond jewelries to adorn themselves.

Hirak Raj shows a keen interest in scientific explorations. He might not have the opulence of Artificial Intelligence generating Nvidia GPUs in his era, but he aspires to artificially recast the intelligence of his subjects. He has therefore invested a handsome amount in the ‘Gobeshok’ to invent the brain-washing machine ‘Jontor Montor’. He plans to put his anti-national and rebellious subjects in this chamber and wire their brains to a state wherein it triggers them to proclaim the virtues of his monarchy and their compliance for the same. So, it soon becomes evident that this engrossment in scientific expeditions no way reflects his love for science but rather it’s his sheer malevolent endeavor suiting his cunning ambition. He is soon seen losing temper over his royal scientist who seems to be missing the deadlines of the delivery and Hirak Raj is not even remotely impressed by the artificial flowers invented by the scientist as a proof of his dedication. He also is extremely calculative of his investments and is infuriated seeing that scientist sleeping instead of watching the telescope to hunt for Udayan Pandit.

Hirak Raja has open door policy for his subjects. But he listens to their miseries, not to provide some relief to them but for identifying the most rebellious ones among them as prospective targets for intellectual reformations in his ‘Jontor Montor’ chamber.

Like most oppressors, there is no place for ethics nor trust in his work culture. He atrociously subjects the labors to work in the diamond mines for lengthy hours but he neither trusts them and nor allows them any relief from the whipping to extract the last drop of sweat and blood from their bodies. He further proclaims that the workers are dreaded even by death, denying scientific facts that they die earlier due to poisonous chemical exposures. However, when Gupi and Bagha visit his mines, he projects himself as an epitome of a benevolent ruler expressing his compassion for them. But as soon as the global surveillance vanishes, he wants to tax his starving subjects heavily and preaches that it’s their dutiful act to serve a divine monarch like him.

Hirak Raja wants his kingdom to look unblemished to his guests. Like a perfect narcissist he wants to change the history and geography to establish his omnipotence. He arranges fireworks, hot air balloons and of course his huge idol inauguration to strengthen his supremacy further. His sycophant astrologer leaves no stones unturned to display his obedience to the king. He thinks the Hirak Raja himself controls the astronomical alignments. So, he disregards the ‘Ponjika’ and gives him a prime-time slot suiting his needs for his statue inauguration. When Hirak Raja commands the new era ‘Hirakabdo’ be started and all preceding eras be erased, the astrologer perhaps adds a pinch of satire in his conformity when he asks if any planets and stars need to be erased as well along with the history. This throws light on the glaring truth that even the most complying followers of a dictator are aware of his misdeeds but submit either due to sheer fear or selfish motives.

Hirak Raja has an unprecedented education policy. He acknowledges the vastness of knowledge and the unfeasibility to grasp all of it. He therefore concludes his subjects shouldn’t waste any time in the futile attempt to pursue education. He wants all schools to be shut down and books be burned. Like a typical dictator who fears the enlightenment of his subjects leading to disobedience, he further preaches that knowledge neither gives respect nor wealth.

He is finally proven the biggest enemy of his own kingdom. As predicted by his astrologer earlier, who stated that on the day of the statue inauguration, the kingdom will also witness the annihilation of its greatest foe; the audience witnesses Hirak Raja caught in flagrante delicto. While he tries to put Udayan Pandit and his students in his ‘Jontor Montor’, he finds his associates have been bribed out by the rebels. They shove Hirak Raj himself in the brainwashing wonder leading to Hirak Raj crusading for his own downfall shouting “Dori dhore maro tan, Raja hobe khan khan”. In his final moments he leaves us with one more precedence that decimation of oppressors is inevitable and is a matter of sheer time.