Kunal Kapoor, 29, made his Bollywood debut with M F Husain's Meenaxi, opposite Tabu. He spoke about Election 2004 to Ronjita Kulkarni.
What is your take on politics and politicians?
I'm aware of politics in our country; I'm not totally disoriented about it. But my knowledge comes from newspapers. I think none of the politicians do anything for the country. All they want to do is fill their coffers. But then again, corruption arises at every level. We cannot always blame the government because we also indulge in corruption at our level.
Is India shining?
We are shining at a certain level. The shine isn't permeating to the lower levels. Look at India's vast wealth disparity. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening too much. The rich are becoming richer and poor, poorer. You will see the prosperous class in cities and towns, with their big houses and cars. And yet, we have extreme poverty. Roads are unchanged.
What are the two things that you want changed in our country?
A thing that troubles me is party alliances. A party has a certain ideology and we vote according to that. But after the voting process, some parties merge for their own reasons and betray the voters.
What is really required is more accountability and fear from politicians. We need a stronger legal system with lesser loopholes. Abroad, we have seen politicians getting prosecuted, no matter at what level they are at. But in India, politicians do not fear the system at all. They can do anything and get away with it.