Birthday Special: Haar se darkar kuch Bollywood ke log kaise kaise bhagwan, baba aur Acharya ke paas pahuch jate hai madad ke liye... BY ALI PETER JOHN

Fear of failure financially or in matters of fame has always been a part of life in Bollywood. It leads them to pray and beg for success and freedom from fear to all the known Gods and Goddesses - Ali Peter John

But the fear is so strong in Bollywood that they have from time to time looked for Godmen or Swami's, Babas, acharyas and other not so holy men to come to their rescue and save them from failure of any kind.

I have been watching this phenomenon of some of the greatest stars in both politics and in films looking for these "holy" men to show ways to success and to retain their success.

Without wasting any time, let me tell you about some of the holy men who have risen and fallen even though they are supposed to be like God or even God, who can give men and women whatever they want as long as the holy ones are still in power and have the grace of some greater God on them...

The first time I came to know of a Godman was when the Jubilee star Rajendra Kumar and some of his industrialists friends talked about a Swami called Nityanand who could solve any human problems.

This Swami became so Powerful and popular that even atheists and secularists reached his ashram to find solutions to their problems.

The Swami who was almost semi clad had his own way of blessing his followers and his power lasted for a short while and even his most ardent follower Rajendra Kumar fell from grace and his films which were guaranteed Jubilee hits turned into abject failures and flops.

I was shocked when even enlightened writers like Inder Raj Anand and even some progressive writers reached his ashram in Virar to seek his blessings and only found failure in return.

I am not speaking against the Swami, but only stating the truth. The Swami and his miracles soon failed and the Swami himself vanished into God alone knows where....

There was a Swami Called Chandrasawami who built his power even over a strong prime minister like Mrs Indira Gandhi and her cabinet and even took decisions for her and her obedient followers.

He too ruled for a while, till Mrs Gandhi was in power and then he fell sick and vanished from the glare of the limelight he was so used to and very little was heard about him soon.

This Chandrasawami even had his clout in Bollywood and there were many stars who believed that could give them the kind of success not even God above could give them. I don't want to name them now because they have all gone into the shadows and are not even heard of today, but were supermen and superwomen as long as they were his followers.

In the sixties there was a yogi called Hatayogi who claimed that could even walk on water and besides the thousands of people who followed him, there were also powerful politicians and dazzling stars.

The Hatayogi organised a "show" to prove that he could walk on water, even the media gave him all the publicity for the miracle he was supposed to work.

The morning of the miracle dawned, the Hatayogi kept his first step on water before thousands of people and he tumbled and fell into the depth of the well where he was supposed to walk and that was the end of the Hatayogi.

And then came the most powerful acharya who called himself bhagwan Rajneesh and he could speak as some people said like God and some of the biggest stars like Vijay Anand, Vinod Khanna, writers like Kamlesh Pandey and Suraj Saneem and daughters and sons of fading stars followed him in droves.

His teachings made publishers bring out a series of books about him and his teachings. He had a strong belief in a free life and the freedom to do anything that a human being wanted.

He spread his empire to Oregon in America and big Bollywood names like Vijay Anand, Vinod Khanna and Mahesh Bhatt and his brothers followed him. Vinod Khanna was made the gardener of his Ashram in Oregon and Vijay Anand was Swami Vijay Anand Bharti who was to spread his teachings in Bollywood and elsewhere.

The suddenly the God above only knows what happened and the entire American police force was after him and the first to flee Oregon were Vijay Anand and Vinod Khanna.

Anand went to the extent of saying that his found his Guru to be a fraud and that he had flung the mala he had given him into the commod and pulled the flush. Vinod Khanna came back to films, but it was a futile attempt as his arc rival Amitabh Bachchan was still ruling the waves.

Vinod could have been a tough competitor for Amitabh if he had not fled to Oregon and when he wanted to compete with Amitabh after he came back, it was too late. There were other stars who were ruling.

Vinod fell a victim to a serious kidney problem and even before people could know, he was gone, and gone to early. I sometimes wonder if Vinod had not made that mistake, he could have certainly beaten Bachchan at his game.

There were many others who suffered after joining the Acharya, Vijay Anand who was a genius lost the touch of a genius after he returned from Oregon and some others who proudly wore saffron robes and the Acharya's mala around their necks quietly gave up and tried to go back to their original lives, but it was too difficult because the miracle of the Acharya worked on them.

The only man from Bollywood who i still as a staunch believer in the Acharya is the great showman Subhash Ghai who loses not opportunity to praise the Acharya and preach his teachings.

And now in recent times, we have seen "holy" men like Baba Ram Raheem, Aasharam Bapu(and both of them are now in tihaad jail for cheating and several cases of sexual assault, bolo baba log ki jai).

And now comes the most enlightened sadhu who rides a bike, has a long beard, wear tinted glasses and preaches to crowds who show all the signs to make clear that nothing is clear about what he tells them.

His biggest follower is the woman who makes the maximum noise in the country and create problems for it, the woman who wears kangans which make sounds that can scare away sensible human beings.

Becoming a baba or a Swami or an acharya has become the easiest job for some. All you have to do is wear weird and colourful clothes, grow a beard, have several malas around your neck and speak words not many can understand.

And it is interesting to know that these Holy men are finding more and more followers in Bollywood. Is following them leading Bollywood to success or to a future which is no future?