Tag Archives: Bollywood

SRK’s Jawan grips the nation

The response to Jawan has been historic and unprecedented. It has shattered all the box-office records and is on its way to creating new unimaginable records. Though it was expected that the movie would do great business considering SRK’s fan following, what is unprecedented is that it has gone beyond all expectations. Atlee has presented SRK on the massiest avatar possible that no other director could have done till now.

SRK has not only reinvigorated Bollywood with a fresh lease of life, he has established that there is no star bigger than him. The records that he is creating are literally insurmountable.

Jawan is expected to do unimaginable numbers and is expected to rewrite the record books. Pandits are unsure as the eventual numbers can be beyond any predictions. The movie has gripped and stirred the conscious of the nation. Time will only tell what will be it’s final business.

This is the era where SRK rules. He has become bigger than the game itself.

Remembering Irrfan Khan on his birth anniversary

Just realized that today is the birth anniversary of Irrfan Khan. The actor who broke boundaries and glass ceilings to become one of the most appreciated actors from both commercial and artistic aspect of movie-making. One of the few actors who got into Hollywood and did pivotal roles. An actor who could get into the skin of any character and own it. An actor who could play a rich evil businessman and a small village dacoit with equal panache. A man who uplifted small content-driven movies with his brilliance and helped them achieve commercial success. Irrfan Khan epitomized the success story of a struggling actor that Bollywood so loves to glorify when the success has been achieved. In fact, it is sort of a chain reaction when success fuels more success and then everyone embraces it to get their pie.

Irrfan starred in several epic movies such as Piku, Paan Singh Tomar, The Lunchbox, Haider and so on. Wherever he went, he left a deep impression by his subtle acting skills. Acting skills that were very unlike Bollywood (not to say that Bollywood has bad actors) in the sense that they were mellow (had a peculiarity) and never felt outlandish. Also, there appeared honesty and truthfulness in his characters that was marked by sheer lack of over-enthusiasm such as displayed by some of the newbies of Bollywood when they seem to think they are acting. He indeed was a breath of fresh air and was liked by people of all age group.

It’s not wrong to say that the actor got his due late and that when he was at the peak of his career, ready to enjoy the stardom, health caught up with him. In my heart of hearts, I feel that success was slow in catching him and that he should have been a success much before had he got the opportunities earlier or if we as audience were matured enough for good content and acting; and demanded it. After all, audience taste is what drives everything including the opportunities.

Now that when the man is not with us, let’s pray that India keeps creating such talent and that such talent finds its way to the top sooner. Also, let’s hope Bollywood and Indian Cinema keep recognizing such talent and give them the opportunity to display themselves to the world. I think that is all such a talent wants and something that it should rightly get.

One-Time
Monthly
Yearly

If you like the content and want to help us in sustaining the blog, you can make a voluntary contribution:

Make a one-time donation

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00

Or enter a custom amount


Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly

What Sushant Singh Rajput’s death teaches us?


• That there are people who can take advantage of anything to further one’s agenda – Beware of them.


• That we are ignorant about mental health issues – Anyone can suffer from any problem.


• That we are a patriarchal society – Stop finding easy excuses or culprits. Go to the root of the issue. Things are not always as we want them to be.


• That we are strongly biased, and logic is the least used faculty – Apply logic and not instinct.


• That Bollywood has its share of problems – Bring reforms, structure, and have more acceptance towards everyone.


• That choosing to not react regardless of who you are is a personal choice – Don’t judge people for their personal choices.


• That choosing to react the way you do regardless of who you are is a personal choice – Don’t judge people for their personal choices.


• That not all celebrities or rich people are evil – Rich doesn’t mean evil.


• That not all general people are good – There are a lot of stupid people around us.


• That TV journalism (largely) is evil and agenda driven. – Don’t watch it.


• That we don’t respect the law and let it function – Trust your institutions, stop gossiping. If you have a different viewpoint, raise it objectively.


• That we enjoy drama and sensation – Curb this inner instinct.


• That we are essentially either blind followers or trolls – Stop that.


• That we love to hate – Stop that.


• That we need a tragedy to realize the value of a person or his talent – Appreciate talent at the right time. This is for the people who became Sushant Singh Rajput’s fan after his death.


• That we are always waiting for an opportunity to start hating people – Stop that.


• That we have some sort of inherent hatred for people who are successful than us – Get over it.


• That we love to make people fall – Don’t enjoy seeing people fall. Even if someone has done wrong and he or she gets her due, just be gracious that justice is done. Don’t enjoy that.


• That an unsuccessful person always thinks that he or she didn’t get what he or she deserved because of the flawed system – Stop blaming your failures on everything else except you. Maybe you were not good. Maybe others were better than you. Maybe you are meant for something else.


• That the system sometimes can actually be unfair – Maybe you were hard done. But then, never lose hope and constantly work to fix the systemic issue as per your ability.


• That you are more than what you become or what people know you for and all other shit – Just have a go at life and keep going.

One-Time
Monthly
Yearly

Donate to support my cause of truthful conversations

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00

Or enter a custom amount


Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly

Battleground twitter

When twitter first came to India, it was just a microblogging site. Though it still is that, technically speaking, but it has assumed far greater importance in our communications, then we initially assumed it would. Initially it was just a fun site for connections and light banter. People thronged the site to share one liners and cool excerpts. The very small word limit made the messages precise and easily consumable. It was a happy social space.

What happened now?

With the influx of celebrities and political bigwigs, twitter became a conversation domain where emotions were expressed vividly. The fans, the trolls, the neutrals everyone flooded twitter with the intention of getting heard. Every communication now definitely finds its way on twitter. It gets magnified either for good or bad.

What exactly is the problem?

Twitter is just a medium. Let’s understand it. Like any other medium, people might use it for good or bad. The way we censor and penalize bad behavior in real world, we must do it on twitter too. However, there is something called “freedom” that we all, so freely enjoy, something that we must continue to enjoy in our expression. Blanket bans on accounts that seem unaligned to a majoritarian view must not be the only criterion on blocking the accounts.

So, what is the solution?

The solution is simple. We must restrain accounts that are in violation of the law of the land and let the acceptable dissent flow. We must not tarnish a larger movement, regardless of its merit, because of the fringes. It’s the weed that we should remove and not the crop. Remember weed grows regardless of a thing being good or bad.

Are the conversations on twitter real or manufactured?

Both. It might be organic or manufactured. However, none of it is a problem till it’s in violation of the law of the land and poses security threat. A manufactured dissent will die its own death as it won’t find any takers in the long run and because people are not really committed for it. The moment these people will switch off their phone, they will go back to who they were. If it is organic, it will flourish outside twitter too and reach the masses.

Why celebrities are silent? Is it justified?

Celebrities have influence and they can take stand. So, should they do so? Are they morally bound? To answer this question, we first need to understand, why we want them to speak up. We want it because we feel that they can steer the vehicle toward a particular direction which we feel is the right one. We think that they fear the repercussions, and that is the reason they are not speaking up. If we protect them from the backlash, they would be happy to speak up. This is what we think. This might be partially true, but what if the polarization itself is not real, if the hate itself is not real, if everything is orchestrated with a design that has a short shelf life. If there is no genuine problem, then there is nothing that needs to be fixed. If you know that it is all for a show, and you are not interested in the show, then you might not want to be a part of it.

Can people boycott the celebrities and bring down their large empires?

I don’t think that it is true. This can be a social media phenomenon where people can dislike a particular video or unfollow a celebrity if he appears to take a particular stand that’s against a majoritarian view. However, we need to understand that the real fan base remains loyal throughout. I haven’t encountered one individual who said he earlier liked someone but now dislikes him on account of his views. You will eventually be liked for your work than anything else.

Okay, real fan base won’t go, but what about young susceptible minds? Will a star loose out on new potential fans because of specific views?

There are no susceptible minds. People are smart. You need to understand the conversations that are happening in the ground in every household. Whenever a person is saying a particular view is correct, there is another view that says otherwise. So, there is a sane and thorough debate going on at the very root level. Don’t think people simply consume what comes from the top.

But there must be multiple views that come from the top for general people to analyze the pros and cons properly right? If one view is heavily propounded, the other view simply loses the game.

That is partially true. That’s why it is also important to speak up. But this is a larger point of diverse democratic conversations that should come from Journalism and politics. People should take part in it, but it’s these institutions that hold the responsibly of keeping the conversation pure and unbiased. And I still feel even if the correct view is less spoken, it still makes itself obvious and people understand it. Such is the nature of the truth. It eventually gets you. But we do need equal space for all views.

Would you request celebreties to speak more?

It’s totally their prerogative.

Can people ride the social media wave by aligning themselves with a particular view for their own benefit?

They can try. However, it wouldn’t last long. it’s very difficult to take the love and hate of social media very seriously. A like in your twitter post would not translate into the person liking the post seeing your movie. He might be liking the post out of fun or compulsion, who knows. Even if the person is genuinely liking your post, he might like you for your views, but hate you for your work. That can also happen.

So, what is the final solution?

Have more democratic conversations. Give space to other views. Allow dissent. Allow multiple viewpoints to flourish, so that everyone can form their own opinion.

One-Time
Monthly
Yearly

Donate to support my cause of making sense in this world.

Make a monthly donation

Make a yearly donation

Choose an amount

¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00
¤5.00
¤15.00
¤100.00

Or enter a custom amount


Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

Your contribution is appreciated.

DonateDonate monthlyDonate yearly