Posts Tagged ‘aamir’
Intolerance Debate: Understanding the Celebrity Shaming
A lot of celebrities were shamed, trolled for speaking their mind on intolerance. According to me they have every right of sharing their feelings. No one can take that away.
Somewhere media belittled the issue by highlighting the cases of Shahrukh and Aamir. What started off as celebrity trolling was relegated to an issue with religious undertones. In reality it was not just about the two superstars, a lot of writers were trolled too who did not share the same religion. But this angle was forgotten.
I want to explore the celebrity shaming issue in totality. I feel that even if Akshay Kumar would have said what Shahrukh said, he would have been subjected to the same. I am not defending the social media abuses that were hurled at anyone who said the country is intolerant. I am trying to understand why these celebrities were taken to task.
What I feel is, when common people saw these well off people cribbing about intolerance, somehow the anger erupted. It was like, when common Indian were struggling for water, food, shelter, the people who have everything were busy cribbing about first world problems.
I was talking to a friend of mine and he had this to say. “So the country is too intolerant for these stars who have all the luxuries in the world. They who spend most of time abroad, whose children study abroad, who have havens abroad, they find the country intolerant. By that reasoning, we who have no money to go abroad and have been living in India and will continue to live in India, are ch****a.”
People might have perceived it as rubbing the salt in their wounds. I don’t think it was related to national pride, as it was related to being laughed at. A rich person cribbing is never a humble figure. Feeling is like, “they crib with all the wealth, we who don’t have much should commit suicide then”.
Better would have been if these celebrities would have cribbed after donating part of their wealth. It would have given them some moral weight. In the absence of that, they came out as greedy people who are not content even with the entire world at their feet.
I might be wrong here. But this is what I feel.
Aamir Khan Issue: Let’s look it from Brand Point of View
So Aamir Khan is no longer a face of Incredible India Brand Building Campaign. Media debates and public discourse followed. Diverse views of vendetta and course correction were put forward. Let’s look at this decision from the brand point of view.
Aamir is promoting India as a tourist friendly country to get more and more people to visit India. And when he discusses how his wife wanted to leave India due to intolerance and he too feels despondency in the air, what it does to the brand India? Tourists would be like, “Dude the brand ambassador of India himself does not feel safe in India, to hell with going there. Let’s party in Ibiza”.
Won’t a responsible CEO pull up the ads and replace the brand ambassador to save the brand? This is what exactly Indian Govt. has done. When Aamir did the movie PK, and if he went on air and said, “I felt I should not have done PK. is the most pathetic movie ever made. Waste of time, don’t watch it”, wouldn’t it had affected the movie? Of course it would have. Wouldn’t the producer pull away Aamir from movie promotions?
What if Aamir had said, Coco Cola is a pesticide disguised as a soft drink, wouldn’t he have been replaced and contract scrapped. He might also have been sued by the company. If tomorrow I publicly badmouth the firm I work at, would I not be pulled up and subjected to disciplinary action. Does it really infringe my freedom of speech? Those who sympathize with Aamir and berate the Govt, try badmouthing your employer. Scared? You should be.
Aamir Khan is doing Incredible India for free. And here lies the problem. When you do something for free, you don’t have anything to lose. Had it been a 10cr/year contract, he would have thought 10 times before damaging the brand. He would fear losing the contract. I don’t blame him, we all are like that.
I would suggest Govt whoever they choose as the brand ambassador, either pay him/she well or if they refuse to be paid, ask them to sign a contract which mentions that their actions in any way should not demean the brand India.
Don’t badmouth Aamir Khan
Let’s hold our horses and reflect for a min why Aamir said what he said. I might not have agreed with Aamir in the past but I consider him to be diplomatically sound person. He weighs in his words and speaks only what sounds good to his audience. Why then he said, “Sense of intolerance has grown in last 6-8 months and that his wife is worried to the extent of asking him to leave India altogether”?
I take him at the face value. I discount his grudge with Gujarat Govt during Narmada movement and non-screening of his movies thereof, as a thing of the past. Then why?
The Award Gang has been successful in their propaganda. They have been able to create an atmosphere of fear. Aamir was speaking what he and his wife really feel and not putting on an act. He referred to seeing newspapers headlines and feeling afraid. If you read newspapers these days, you will feel the fear too. Award Gang has been successful in selling their narrative.
Onus is now on Central Govt, which like it or not has been hit badly. That their own people have made obnoxious comments and those people are still holding party posts have not helped. Instead of bad mouthing Shahrukh or Aamir, who just like a lot of other people have fallen prey to the agenda of Award Gang, Govt must act smart.
Find a way to change the narrative. How Vasundhara Raje handled the cow art controversy should be the template. Instead of lambasting Shahrukh/Aamir, Govt must go overboard in nipping each and every act of intolerance in its bud. Do what Vasundhara did, apologize if need be.
Appear concerned. Send public notices to bad mouths of your party. Send notices to State Govt’s where these acts of intolerance are taking place. Scold them publicly at every forum. Award Gang has made its move and is winning this. It’s time for a counter move. Not brutal but smart.
Aamir, Modi, Bedi: Be Hero Once More
I would like to state at the onset, I have been and might well again be admirer of Aamir, Modi and Bedi at one time or the other.
Its sad to see the charisma shattered and idols exposed. How I cried with Taare Zameen Par and wanted to be Rancho with 3 Idiots. How I grew up answering Bedi’s name proudly in GK exams and telling tales about Indira and Crane. How I danced when Modi won and wiped a sweet tear post Madison Magic.
Hypocrisy thou art a bitch! You removed the cloak off Aamir. The one who dished out Delly Belly, didn’t shy away from giving gyan to others for similar act. I dont justify either of the two. But why show oneself holier than the cow? Why so arrogant? Why so hypocrite?
Modiji you rallied nation together against black money, corruption and preached Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikaas. We all stood behind you. I know people who considered you a father and might still do. Your silence when things were going opposite to what you said earlier, was deafening. Your comrades preached about due process and proof while justifying inaction on black money. It should have been taken on war footing but you hid behind. Your people used LG in Delhi as a political tool, you said nothing. Your people went to town with communal agenda, you let it happen. Sorry Sir, I am not able to defend you now, though you might still defend your Govt.
Bedi. A study in somersault. Tweets after tweets u-turned. All ideologies put to dust. Why O Why? You said its your choice. But what should we do now? We common people who cheered alongside you during Anna agitation. We who learned your name from school-books. We stand betrayed. Maybe not by you but by our own imagination.
My heroes are tarnished. How I wish they redeem themselves. How I would love to see them doing what they preach. How I would love to say ‘You my Hero’, once more.
PK, Aamir and Controversy
I saw PK movie starring Aamir Khan and directed by Rajkumar Hirani, before any controversy erupted. It was quite clear from the trailers that movie was a satire on religious customs. I went to see the movie with an open mind.
Movie wise its a nice simple story without much drama or twists. A simple tale told with simplicity. Aamir’s acting was superb as always. I liked the message of the movie. About superstitions and wrong numbers and how easy it is to fool people in the name of religion.
But I will be frank here, I found few bits distasteful like the one in the climax involving a guy posed as Shiva, and the one where Tapasvi says that a person from particular religion do blasts…why should Tapasvi answer?
Then the controversy erupted. Hindu religious leaders objected, understandably so, as majorly they were the ones targetted. Then the political free for all.
My take is such movies tend to vitiate atmosphere in a multi religious society like ours. It would have been. difficult to target all religions equally in the movie and this is what caused issues. Right wing and appeasement politicians both made things worse.
My take is though in principle such movies should be celebrated but given the realities, they better not be made.
I find makers of the movie equally at fault as the religious traders. Both made money off religion. Some by celebrating it, others by denigrating it. Movie was made to make crores of rupees and this fact should not be forgetted. I would have liked if makers gave away the profits for social causes. Since their motive was to make money off public, they were always susceptible to attack and can’t take Holier than thou route.
Everyone alike. After all its money honey!
Of Batman and Bollywood
With anxiety about the latest Batman flick running Everest high, Christian Bale is the name on everyone’s lips. This masked and caped vigilante has brought a sense of respect to comic books, missing till now. There have been many a actors who have donned the cowl over the years ranging from the heroic Val Kilmer to the forgettable George Clooney.
This led me to wonder how would the character have panned out had our own Bollywood stars played The Batman. Let see one by one.
| 1. Salman Khan | |
 |
The accented Khan would have suited best as when he speaks in accent he is hardly intelligible, much like Batman whisper. How awesome would it have sound.
Catwoman: “Tumne Gotham ke liye bahut kuch kiya. Ab bas karo”.
Batman: “Nahin, ek baar jo maine commitment kar di, toh main apne aap k bhi nahin sunta”.
|
| 2. Shahrukh Khan | |
 |
He is no alien to wearing tight body suits and saving the town. Unlike Batman, his sign would be posing sideways with arms stretched out.
Whenever he would do that, Inspector Gordon would run into his arms with music in the background.His melodrama and his enemies would die weeping. Casting Robin for him would be a no brainer! |
| 3. Akshay Kumar | |
 |
A flirt Batman. A Kishen Kanhiyya. More like Bruce Wayne, partying with models on his yacht. His endless gags one after the another and his enemies would go insane laughing.
Dialogue: “Mein apne desh ka pehla launda hoon jo chimkadad ban ke ud riya hoon.”
|
| 4. Ajay Devgn | |
 |
The Singham Batman would break the fingers when pointed at.
Aata majhi satakli, aali le aali Joker, teri baari aali. The superhero with tilted head would be famous for car chases, blowing and flying cars as he chases his enemies in Bat Car.
|
| 5. Saif Ali Khan | |
 |
The cool urbane Batman with a sheepish smile.
“Ek baar mein samajh gaye ki main Batman hoon ya mein waapas ghoom ke aaoon”.
He has his readymade Batgirl in Kareena. He would roam around flirting with umpteen girls while his enemies would get eliminated. “Bade aaraam se”.
|
| 6. Aamir Khan | |
 |
The perfectionist Batman. He would sleep hanging upside down at the ceiling, lest the character gets diluted. He would surgically get bat wings and paint his face black.
Instead of fighting crimes, would fly away and live with bats in their caves. His logic, Bat’s don’t fight crimes, they just hang upside down and terrorize people. |
| 7. Abhishek Bachchan | |
 |
This would be the first Batman of its kind. Liberation! Instead of the Cape, he would be donning a gown. Instead of all black, it would be all red and pink.
He would charm his enemies and live with him happily ever after. |
Chatur Speech in Hindi: 3 Idiots
आदरणीय सभापति महोदय, अतिथि विशेष शिक्षण मंत्री श्री आर. डी. त्रिपति [त्रिपाठी] जी, माननीय शिक्षकगण और मेरे पियारे [प्यारे] सहपतियो [सहपाठियों]| आज अगर I.C.E आसमान की बुलांदियो [बुलंदियों] को छू राहा [रहा] है, तो उसका श्रेय सिर्रफ [सिर्फ] एकिंसान [एक इंसान] को जाता है, श्री वीरू सहस्त्र बुद्धे| Give him a a big hand . He is a great guy really .
पिछले बत्तीस साल से इन्होने निरंतर इस कॉलेज में बलत्कार [बलात्कार] पे बलत्कार किये, उम्मीद है आगे बी [भी] करते रहेगे [रहेंगे ]| हमें तो आश्चर्य होता है कि एक इंसान अपने जीवन काल में इतनी बलत्कार कैसी कर सकता है| इन्होने कड़ी तपस्या से अपने आपको इस काबिल बुनाया [बनाया ] है| वक़्त का सही उपयोग, घंटे का पूर्ण इस्तेमाल कोई इनसे सीके [सीखे ]| सीके, इनसे सीके| आज हम सब छात्र यहाँ हैं, कल देश-विदेश में फेल [फैल] जायेंगे| वादा है आपसे जिस देश में होंगे वहां बलत्कार करेंगे| I.C.E का नाम रोशन करेंगे| दिका [दिखा] देंगे सबको जो बलत्कार करने की शमता यहाँ के छात्रों में है वो संसार के किसी छात्रों में नहीं| No other छात्र, No other छात्र|
आदरणीय मंत्रीजी नमस्कार, आपने इस संस्थान को वो चीस [चीज़] दी जिसकी हमें सख्त ज़रुरत थी| स्तन! स्तन होता सबी [सभी] के पास है, सब छुपा के रकते है, देता कोई नई [नहीं]| आपने अपना स्तन इस बलत्कारी पुरुष के हाथ में दिया है| अब देकिये यह कैसा इसका उपयोग करता है|
इस स्वर्ण अवसर पर एक श्लोक याद आ रहे है…
उत्तमम दधददात पादम,
मध्यम पादम थुचुक थुचुक,
घनिष्ठः थुड़थुडी पादम,
सुरसुरी प्राण घातकम|
Akshay, Aamir, Awards: A Dilemma
Last night a breaking news simultaneously bombarded across all the News Channels. “Akshay refused to accept the Star Screen award for the best actor in popular category”. It was said that he was miffed at it not being given to Aamir. Here’s the catch. Aamir don’t attend such award ceremonies as a policy. Would announcing Aamir the winner take the sheen away from the ceremony, given his absence? To some extend, yes. Now what can Star Screen do? I recollect similar dilemma during the time of Gadar and Lagaan. Their resounding success was of so sheer velocity that no award ceremony dare give it to some other movie or some other star. Since Sunny and Aamir both boycott these populist awards, what happened? The award functions looked pale and just a formality. This brings us to the current discussion, Was Star Screen right in not giving award to the deserving, Aamir? Well, answer might not be as simple.
One solution might be to stop nominating them. Make it a policy statement. In the past a lot many award functions have done so, including Oscars. This might in turn end up lending them, a much needed credibility.
So why haven’t they done it already? Most of the award functions are organized by private media houses who need the stars for promotional purposes. Consider a scenario, “Aamir Khan not been considered for Star Screen awards”. Given the size of egos in Bollywood, Aamir (or his well wishers), might take it as an insult. This would open the floodgates, open war b/w camps (already there are no less). No media house wants to end up at the point of no return. So they try and maintain cordial relations. Not attending the award lends the star, a high moral ground. Not being openly considered might be taken as an outright insult. The truth today is that stars such as Aamir are more powerful than any particular media house. Hence they are nominated year after year, should they ever change their mind.
Ghajini Music: A winner at hand
Music of Ghajini is out finally. It seemed like eternity. On the face of it Aamir+Rahman sounds to be an unbeatable combo. So what does this album have in store for us?
Before going into further, I want to admit that I am not an expert when it comes to the intricacies of music, the nodes and beats so to say. For me the music should be pleasant to hear. One thing I have learned over the years is that there are two kinds of music, one which clicks instantaneously and the other which takes time to grow. Usually Rahmans music is of the latter category (consider Yuvvraaj).
I perform a simple test while rating any album. While at office, I put on my earplug and leave the album on repeat mode. The music which keeps me working and not makes me throw of the earplug is the one that’s good for me. So does Ghajini pass the test?
Yes completely. It takes time to grow, but once it does, it’s addictive. In fact couple of songs click at the first go itself.
Aye Bachchu and Latoo even took my concentration off the work for moments. Both songs are high on octane, compared to the others on the album. They are the ones which will force you to listen to them. Clear winner.
Bekha and Gujarish go with the flow; you would want to listen to them on repeat mode.
The only song which has not got to my ears yet is Kaise Mujhe. I have listened to the album for almost 10-12 times on repeat mode already, but every time I tend to lose Kaise Mujhe. It just goes unnoticed. But still it’s not bad as I haven’t thrown off my earplug yet.
Its 4/5 for me. Rahman betters himself every time. If we thought Jaane Tu was the height this year, well the Everest has grown further.
ArpitGarg's Weblog 