10 reasons why we badly need a good 'Ghost Who Walks' film

When I was in Class VI, everyone around me was talking about what to become when you grow up. A lot of them wanted to become doctors and engineers. I guess I was a bit looney then as I am now because I was the only one who wanted to become Phantom – the Ghost Who Walks (but only those times when I didn’t want to become Tipu Sultan). While I did like Superman and Batman and He-Man later on it was for the Phantom that I would still vote to be my childhood hero no. 1.

We’ve all seen the crap the Man of Steel film is. Here are 10 reasons why a good film on the Ghost Who Walks is the need of the hour:

HE’S THE KNOWN NEMESIS OF ALL POACHERS

You can’t just go to the forest and claim something as your own! That’s one thing the Phantom drills into the heads of poachers with his skull ring, be it an evil forest guard or foreign smugglers…he’ll take them to task.

HE TEACHES YOU TO RESPECT WILDLIFE AND THE FOREST

– Phantom’s holiday home/ farm house is an enchanting island called Eden where carnivores and herbivores live together in harmony. It is almost as if the Phantom messed with their food chain. I am suddenly not so sure that is a good thing to do. But he does make you believe in it for some time.

HE TELLS YOU THAT DOLPHINS ARE REALLY FRIENDLY CREATURES

When the young Phantom’s girlfriend comes visiting, they all go surfing with their pet dolphins called Solomon and Nefertiti! 

HE’S REALLY FIT

Even though you’ve never seen him work out, you know that he’s just a man with amazing physical capabilities when you see him bash a gang of goons with his speed and adeptness at firing his two revolvers. He hardly ever needs to use more than two shots at a time. Superman is from another world where the average man is stronger. Batman makes use of technology. Spiderman is lucky to be bitten by a radioactive spider. But this guy is a normal human being who has trained himself to be this fast-moving lean-mean-machine. I think I would readily hit the gym if he gave me tips.

HE LIVES OFF THE GRID, #LikeABoss

The Phantom lives in a Skull Cave deep inside the forest, the one his forefathers built and he just maintains, albeit professionally. He grows his own food and lives off forest produce. He doesn’t use electricity but depends on huge candles. We don’t know much about the plumbing system in the Skull Cave but it’s not difficult to conjure a place to attend nature’s calls when you are in the forest! 100% off-grid and environment friendly living!

HE’S A GOOD SAMARITAN

For generations, he has helped people in need and has never wanted anything in return. He does call on people when he needs them to help others.

HE LOVES DOGS

They say judge a man by how he treats his lesser creatures. You know he loves his dog (or should we say wolf?) Devil. We need more of these animal loving superheroes, don’t you think?

HE USES AN ECO-FRIENDLY MODE OF TRANSPORT

As a kid, when I started to school, I wanted to switch to something faster. There was no way I was getting a bike but I would’ve loved a horse. Phantom gets around so splendidly on his steed – Hero. The only exhaust it probably exhausts is the dung which is awesome manure.

HE’S PROBABLY AN AUDIO ENGINEER OF SOME KIND

Knowing well that mobiles won’t have network in the Deep Woods, Phantom set up the dependable and fast Jungle Drums that are used to send and receive messages. Based on the Morse Code, you think?

HE UNDERSTANDS PEACE

They say that ever since the Phantom, the tribes inside the forest haven’t fought each other. The Wambesi and the Llongo have learnt to mind their ways. Often they come together for the healthy inter-tribe Olympics, which also acts as a brilliant place for show of pride and power. Everything else is good with the Ghost Who Walks around.  Unlike the society then, Phantom made sure that slavery was abolished and that no discrimination took place based on race or colour of skin. He himself has a lot of dark-skinned friends. 

 What I do not understand is why the Pygmy Poison people are called ‘Bandar’. Was that Harbhajan Singh’s idea?

They tried making a Phantom film in 2010 but it looks so tacky! If they can make the Dark Knight look slick and sexy, what did Phantom do wrong? A Phantom film will at least have some take home message, something that the yawny Man of Steel lacked.