Bollywood Archives - The Common Man Speaks

Udit Narayan & K Krishnamurti’s underrated gem in an underrated film

October 10, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Veteran singers Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishmamurti have provided Hindi film lovers with a list of gems, both together and individually. In fact, they were the undisputed singing stars of the 1990s, along with Kumar Sanu and Alka Yagnik.

As we are aware, Hindi cinema produces movies in hundreds every year. And as was the case in the 90s, every film ought to have a good number of songs. With such high number of tracks coming out each year, there is always a possibility of some gems getting unnoticed, more so if the film doesn’t do well at the box office.

Such has been the fate of a soulful and soothing romantic number ‘Yeh Shaamein’ sung by Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurti in Shyam Benegal’s Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda (1992). The lyrics are penned by Vasant Dev while Vanraj Bhatia, the go-to man for music in parallel cinema, is the composer. It’s picturized on Rajit Kapur and Pallavi Joshi.

There are certain songs that created an impact after repeated listening while there are others that touch you instantly. ‘Yeh Shaamein’ easily falls into the latter category. As far as my personal experience is concerned, I became its admirer as soon as I heard it for the first time more than a decade ago while watching Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda.

It is one of those songs where all the three components – lyrics, music and singing – achieved brilliance and its result is there for you to see [rather, hear].

Kapur and Joshi’s performances are also undeniable as they have added plenty of life to the visuals. They broke the myth that you need conventionally good looking ‘hero’ and ‘heroine’ to display chemistry in a romantic number. If you have dedicated artistes who know their craft and can emote effortlessly, that’s all you need.

Here’s the song

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda is based on the classic Hindi novel of the same name by Dharmveer Bharti. It’s about a storyteller Manek Mulla (Kapur) and it features one storytelling session he has with his friends where he narrates the stories of three girls (Rajeshwari Sachdev, Pallavi Joshi and Neena Gupta) that entered his life at different points.

Also read: When Premchand wrote on CRICKET and its malpractices

The ensemble cast also includes Amrish Puri, Riju Bajaj, Raghuvir Yadav, KK Raina, Anang Desai, Lalit Mohan Tiwari, Ila Arun and Himani Shivpuri.

The film challenged conventional storytelling with some intelligent use of flashback. The personal story of Manik Mulla indirectly makes a statement on the society and its rigid norms, especially in rural areas back then. Although Manek is the storyteller, at the end of the day he is still just a character in the entire scheme of things.

Having read the book before watching the film, I feel this is one of the rare movies that lives up to the literature it is based on.

Also read: Why Byomkesh Bakshi continues to win hearts in the OTT era

‘Yeh Shaamein’, however, never got its due as the film just didn’t click at the box office. As clichéd as it may sound, it was way ahead of its times. It deserved to have been made in today’s era of OTT.

But it has started finding an audience in the era of social media. This is evident from the numerous conversations I have had both online and offline related to this movie. Hopefully, one day it will be appreciated among the lovers of unconventional cinema… along with the song.

Suraj Ka Satvan Ghoda is on Amazon Prime Video but, unfortunately, not for those staying in India.

But the film is available on YouTube. Watch it below:

Actor Asif Basra’s suicide in 2020 never triggered an uproar

September 5, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

It has been three days since the unfortunate passing away of actor Sidharth Shukla due to sudden heart attack. The last three days have witnessed countless posts on social media bidding emotional goodbyes to him.

But along with that, the internet is also full of conspiracy theories regarding Shukla’s death. Despite the actor’s family members admitting that there is no foul play, thousands of his fans are thinking otherwise.

From someone giving him false medicines at night before he passed away to the actor doing drugs, everything is being attributed to his passing away except heart attack. But the one that takes the cake are claims of the actor being murdered.

In fact, a group has been formed on Facebook with the name ‘Justice for Sidharth Shukla’ where some members are asking for a CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) intervention in the matter.

These theories aren’t new. Ever since Sushant Singh Rajput passed away due to suicide in June 2020 till today, conspiracy theories regarding his alleged murder are still doing rounds despite the CBI not finding any murder angle in his death ever since they took up the case since a year.

Looking at all this, it might seem that majority of people get too affected emotionally if an actor dies unexpectedly. It becomes like a personal loss for them. However, this is not the case for every actor.

Let’s go back to that fateful evening in November last year, five months after SSR passed away, when news of actor Asif Basra ending his life by hanging was broken. I was shocked and it affected me as much as SSR’s death did.

However, there was no uproar on social media. Basra ended his life in the same way as Sushant did. But nobody found anything suspicious in his death. Nobody cried murder and brought up those unthinkable theories. Like SSR, Basra too was an ‘outsider’ but nobody slammed the so-called nepotism gang of Bollywood.

News channels never felt like making an issue out of it and they never trended #JusticeForAsifBasra.

But come September 2021 and the social media erupts with countless posts on suspicious death and murder when Shukla’s own family has confirmed that it’s a natural death.

This easily gives an idea that people get affected on social media in large numbers only if the actor is young, conventionally good-looking and, most importantly, someone who fits in the image of a ‘hero.’ Supporting actors or character artistes aren’t precious enough to get such reactions.

Basra has appeared in a list of prominent projects including, Black Friday, Parzania, Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai, Kai Po Che, Krrish 3, The Tashkent Files, Paatal Lok, Hostages (both seasons), The Family Man (season 2), etc. They might not have known him by his name but his face is sure to make you feel you have seen him at least few times on screen.

One might still argue that people might not know who Basra was since he wasn’t that famous. But after reading or watching news about his death, people did know about him.

And they also came to know the cause of his death.

Also read:

#JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained? Who lost?

Rann keeps getting more relevant and that’s not a good sign

What will happen to Sooryavanshi and 83?

September 1, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Circa March 2020. The trailer of Rohit Shetty’s Sooryavanshi promised an out-and-out cop entertainer. The film was set to release later that month. In the following month, Kabir Khan’s keenly-awaited 83 was due for release. The makers were getting ready with its teaser and trailer. Hindi film fans felt they are in for a treat.

However, a villain in the form of COVID-19 attacked India and theatres were shut for an indefinite period. Both Sooryavanshi and 83 were forced to abandon their releases and wait for the menace to end in India.

Today, after one and a half years, there is still no clarity on the release of both films.

Theatres did re-open at the end of last year which saw the release of few new Hindi films like Suraj Pe Mangal Bhari, Indoo Ki Jawani, Madam Chief Minister, etc. Although only 50% occupancy was allowed, it was still good news to see cinemas back. There was hope for the occupancy to increase in the coming months.

In January and February this year, few other films released and it felt the occupancy would increase soon. However, the second COVID-19 wave hit the nation and it turned out to be deadlier than the first one. Needless to say, theatres were shut again from April onwards and there was lockdown once again in the country.

Just when it felt Sooryavanshi and 83 would finally see the light of day, things became worse again. For those not in the know, both the films are produced by Reliance Entertainment. The former stars Akshay Kumar in the lead while the latter has Ranveer Singh.

Theatres have been re-opened in various major states in India recently. But Maharashtra, the biggest hub of Hindi cinema, still has its cinemas shut. So, you can’t expect too many big films to release in such situation. Of course, mainstream movies like Bell Bottom and Chehre did release recently. But their business hasn’t been encouraging.

In fact, even if they had released in Maharashtra, it still wouldn’t have made any difference to their box office performance. Somehow, not many people from the Hindi film audience are turning up for these films. Right now, only 50% occupancy is allowed in theatres. But both new films have not attracted even that much audience per show.

It won’t be right to say that people are scared to visit theatres due to the COVID-19 due to various reasons. The biggest being that new Punjabi movies Puaada and Chal Mera Putt 2 have been doing impressive business. The same happened with the Tamil movie Master earlier this year, not just in south but also in places like Mumbai. Plus, people are happy to gather in large numbers at markets and devotional places.

Hence, going by the current Hindi film performance at the box office, it doesn’t look the producers of Sooryavanshi and 83 would be willing to release their films now, even if theatres open up in Mumbai.

One important point here is that both the films are big budgeted and would need to earn huge at the box office in order to become successful. And to achieve that, they would need shows to go full even at 100% capacity.

We should also realize that both films have been in the waiting since a year and a half. This also increases the film’s cost because it increases the interest rate they would need to repay the banks. Naturally, in one and a half years, the rates would have gone significantly high.

Unfortunately, the threat of the third COVID-19 wave is also looming large as various experts have predicted its arrival later this year. So this raises a question whether it would be right for both films to wait for few months from now on.

In other words, neither they can wait nor they can release the films right now.

Serious CENSORSHIP rule has got proposed & here’s how you can stop it

July 1, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The central government has proposed the draft Cinematograph Amendment Bill 2021 through which they get the power to recertify a film passed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) or Censor Board, as it’s popularly known.

If we take away the technical jargons, if the new bill comes into action, it would mean that even if a film is cleared by the CBFC for release, the Central Government will have the power to recertify it. In other words, it will also have the power to take away the certificate, which would mean that a particular film would be stopped from releasing.

In more simple terms, as filmmaker Pratik Kothari said in an interview with the publication Cinestaan.com, we know how students have a right to re-evaluate their paper if they are not happy with the marks. But the new bill would mean that the examiner himself would re-evaluate a student’s paper just because he thinks the student deserves these many marks.

The reason why such an amendment would be more dangerous is because it has come in the wake of different ‘religious’ or social groups demanding bans on certain films they feel hurt their sentiments.

So, in case a film is certified by the CBFC for release but some group believes it should be banned or refused certification, the central government would get the power to re-examine the film to determine if it should release. Hence, it would make the CBFC or Censor Board appear irrelevant because the government would have power to revoke their decision.

Proposing such an act brings to our mind the menace created by the Rajput Karni Sena during the release of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Padmaavat (2018). The group had demanded the forming of a ‘pre-censor board,’ that would examine a film before it reaches the censor board [or CBFC]. As per their demand, if the ‘pre-censor board’ believes the film has no right to release, it won’t even be sent for certification to the censor board.

This new proposed bill is similar to this, except that the ‘pre-censor board’ is asked to look at a film before it goes to the Censor Board.

The new amendment bill has actually come as a double blow that has hardly been noticed by the general population. Earlier this year, the government dissolved the FCAT [Film Certification Appellate Tribunal].

To put it simply, FCAT was the committee to which a filmmaker went if he is not happy with the decision of the CBFC or the Censor Board. But now, the very option of FCAT for aggrieved filmmaker has been chopped off.

Of course, there is an option for filmmakers to approach the High Court if they are unhappy with the CBFC’s certification. But how can one expect independent filmmakers to file a case and pay for the lawyer when they have somehow managed to generate funds to make the film in the first place?

By dissolving the FCAT, the government took away the right of a filmmaker to get his film re-examined if he is unhappy with the verdict of the Censor Board. And now they are proposing an act through which the government itself has the right to withdraw certification of a film already certified for release.

What can we do?

The government has called for comments and opinions on the matter. One can share his or her views by writing an e-mail on – dhanpreet.kaur@ips.gov.in

Read the whole act HERE.

When Ashok Saraf & Jatin Kanakia had us in splits

May 30, 2021 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

Writer-director Sanjay Chhel’s Khoobsurat (1999) is a light-hearted saga that keeps you entertained. It was about a conman Sanju (Sanjay Dutt), who owes Rs 50 lakh to gangster Jogia Seth (Paresh Rawal), entering the Chaudhary household by faking to be their NRI (non-resident Indian) relative Sanjay Shastri in order to swindle money.

Sanju succeeds in gaining the confidence of the family members, including Shivani (Urmila Matondkar), the daughter of the head of the family Dilip (Om Puri). He solves a lot of their problems, thereby winning the family’s hearts.

Like all mainstream Hindi movies, Khoobsurat also ends on a happy note with Sanju getting rid of Jogia and the family members forgiving him. He also finds love in Shivani.

You might have a different opinion on the film. But I am sure a lot of you would agree that the presence of Jatin Kanakia and Ashok Saraf together was a treat. It’s the only movie where they acted together, playing Dilip’s younger brothers.

Kanakia and Saraf — Ashok Saraf and Jatin Kanakia

Known the most for his character Keshav Kulkarni in the serial Shrimaan Shrimati, Kanakia has made appearances in Saraf’s TV shows Hum Paanch and Don’t Worry Ho Jayega. But it’s difficult to remember any memorable scene between them from these shows. The scenes where they would have acted together aren’t available on YouTube or any other platform.

Plus, their characters weren’t related to each other in both the shows like they are in Khoobsurat. Hence, they had a number of scenes together in which their respective comic timing was more than noticeable.

The one scene that takes the cake is when Dinesh Hingu’s character visits the family. He expresses his displeasure at Saraf and Kanakia for delaying in coming up with the idea of an advertisement for his underwear product.

As soon as Dutt, Saraf and Kanakia start making out an idea out of thin air, what follows is one epic moment that can be savored repeatedly. Saraf and Kanakia’s co-ordination is visible throughout. The humor is born out of Kanakia’s habit of forgetting certain words [an idea later used on Suniel Shetty’s character in Awara Paagal Deewana, 2002] and Saraf helping him remember while displaying his brand of comic timing.

Hingu’s crazy character and its habits also adds to the humour in a large way, especially his performance on ‘Thumba Thumba.’ It is only recently that I realized that almost the entire scene is taken in a single take.

Also read: SRK & Ashok SARAF’s pair in Yes Boss deserves more appreciation

The scene is on the lines of Neeraj Vohra’s memorable Chako scene in Ram Gopal Varma’s Daud (1997), which, interestingly, was also written by Chhel and it also featured Dutt [that film also saw Matondkar play Dutt’s love interest].

Khoobsurat is also known for bringing a long list of ensemble supporting cast together. Apart from Saraf and Kanakia, it included the likes of Om Puri, Paresh Rawal, Aanjjan Srivastav, Johnny Lever, Farida Jalal, Himani Shivpuri and Supriya Pilgaonkar.

Sadly, Kanakia passed away months before the release of Khoobsurat.

Watch the scene below:

Also read: Rann keeps getting more relevant and that’s not a good sign

Rann keeps getting more relevant and that’s not a good sign

April 13, 2021 by Keyur Seta 5 Comments

Rann (2010) was one of the better films created by Ram Gopal Varma. It came at a time when the filmmaker was being written off, especially after the debacle of Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag (2007), the remake of Ramesh Sippy’s classic Sholay (1975).

Starring Amitabh Bachchan, Riteish Deshmukh, Paresh Rawal, Sudeep, Mohnish Bahl, Suchitra Krishnamoorthi and Gul Panaag, Rann gave more than a glimpse of the RGV of his prime.

Unfortunately, the film just didn’t work at the box office and couldn’t reach a large number of the audience.

But since the last few years, Rann has been appearing more relevant than it did more than a decade ago when it had released. In fact, it continues to get more relevant with each passing year and that isn’t a good sign.

Rann was basically about Vijay Harshwardhan Malik (Bachchan), the righteous and honest owner of a news channel called India 24/7. His channel is struggling with TV ratings since he is not willing to carry out any unethical and dishonest means to up the ratings, like other rival channels, including the one headed by the corrupt Amrish Kakkar (Bahl).

Vijay’s son Jai (Sudeep) has the opposite ideology but is unable to do anything since it is his father who controls the channel, much to his frustration. Meanwhile, Purab Shastri (Deshmukh), a die-hard fan of Vijay and a budding journalist, is delighted to have got the opportunity to work for India 24/7.

Apart from being a film on the media, Rann was also a political drama. Mohan Pandey (Rawal) from the opposition is desperate to become the Prime Minister. He forms a deal with Jai to frame the existing PM Digvijay Hooda (KK Raina) in a terror plot. Jai convinces Vijay about Hooda’s involvement in the scandal and the latter airs the ‘news’ on his channel.

This results in an uproar in the nation and Hooda is forced to step down as the PM. The general elections are held mid-term in which Pandey triumphs and is all set to become the next PM. However, Purab gets to know about Jai’s evil plan to frame the innocent Hooda. But is it too late?

Although the term ‘fake news’ isn’t spelt out in Rann, that is the crux of the film’s basic plot. However, fake news as a concept was hardly there in 2010, so, obviously, it wasn’t known by the masses. Hence, the seriousness of the subject wasn’t felt by the audience back then.

But today, we are living in an era where fake news is not just a reality but a regularity. Political parties use it on a daily basis to score brownie points over their rivals. Their leaders are painted as saints while the opposing party leaders are made to look like evil through posts and memes that appear like real news.

Rann had a long and powerful tagline that can be seen above

And our gullible citizens believe them without bothering to do any kind of verification. The controversy of the death of Sushant Singh Rajput received more fuel because of fake news. It went to such an extent that ‘news’ like how some top Hindi film stars saw the live telecast of Rajput’s ‘murder’ were spread and they were believed even by well-educated individuals.

Rann also went way ahead of its time and showed a news channel airing fake news. This might have appeared difficult to believe 10 years back but today this is also a reality. There have been instances where channels have aired ‘news’ that can be sourced only to What’s App forwards.

Rann ends in a powerful way when Vijay addresses the nation and begs forgiveness for airing fake news about Hooda. The dialogues and Bachchan’s performance provides goose bumps as we are told the responsibility of the media from scratch.

Big B’s climax monologue in Rann

A line spoken by Vijay’s character sums up the relevance of the film today – Jab sarkar aur media satta ki duad mein aapsi sauda kar leti hain, toh khabarein banti nahin, banai jaati hain [When the government and the media make a deal in the race to power, news doesn’t happen; it is created]

Superstar’s Silence: Why Halla Bol is more relevant today

March 11, 2021 by Keyur Seta 1 Comment

To say that a film was ahead of its times has become a cliché. But there is no better way to describe Rajkumar Santoshi’s Ajay Devgn-starrer Halla Bol (2008). The film would have surely made more heads turn had it released in the current era.

Halla Bol traces the journey of Ashfaque Khan (Devgn). Hailing from a small town in India, he was named after the revolutionary Ashfaqulla Khan. Ashfaque dreams of becoming a film star. He joins a theatre group run by a reformed dacoit Sidhu (Pankaj Kapur) as a first step towards fulfilling his dream.

Sidhu specializes in using the medium of theatre to expose social evils and raise issues that are plaguing the society. Ashfaque wholeheartedly takes part in all such plays that aim to make a difference in the society, staying true to his name.

Meanwhile, Ashfaque’s efforts to get a break in movies pay off and he soon acquires the status of a star. He changes his name from Ashfaque Khan to Sameer Khan. But along with his name, he also changes as a person. Unlike Ashfaque, Sameer plainly refuses to take part in a play organized by Sidhu once for a social cause because this could hamper his star status, much to the shock and disappointment of the latter.

Not just that, the simple and innocent Ashfaque now becomes a womanizer and cheats his childhood love and wife (Vidya Balan) on numerous occasions.

Sameer’s biggest turning point arrives when he witnesses a murder at a party. He doesn’t testify against the culprits out of fear. But when his conscience doesn’t allow him to be at peace, he decides to carry out his duty as a responsible citizen by naming the killers to the police.

However, he receives serious threats since the perpetrators belong to the camp of the powerful and corrupt politician Ganpatrao Gaekwad (Darshan Jariwala). Raising voice against him would mean an end not only for his career but also his life.

Hence, the man known for raising his voice when he was a nobody becomes silent to all wrongdoings after becoming a superstar.

I was quite impressed with Hall Bol when it had released more than a decade ago. But when I look at it today, it excites me even more. It seems the film was tailor-made for the era we are currently living in.

The idea of a superstar not willing to raise his voice against an offence provided an interesting conflict back then. But today, it seems like straight out of reality. A lot has changed since last 6-7 years. Big stars are now super scared to share their opinion on any serious issue, leave alone raising their voice against a wrongdoing, like they used to before.

In fact, some stars are not even willing to speak up on the enormous rising prices of petrol. Interestingly, the same people were happy to share jokes on the same issue when the previous government was in power and when the price of fuel was much lower than what it is today.

Funnily, one star even deleted his tweets from 2012 when he had shared jokes on rising petrol prices. So that people stop questioning him as to why he is silent now.

Hall Bola shows Sameer go through a change of heart later on. He fights the evil forces all by himself [with timely help from Sidhu] to bring justice to the deceased. Of course, it would be laughable to even think of expecting this in reality. Halla Bol, after all, was a mainstream Hindi movie, so it had to end this way.

The extent of the fear of the authorities in today’s times was seen the most last month when famous celebrities shared scripted tweets in favour of the government after Rihanna spoke up on the issue of farmers’ protest.

Funnily, among the famous names who tweeted included the main lead of Halla Bol.

P.S: Halla Bol is available on Amazon Prime Video, Shemaroo Me and Voot.

Also read:

SRK & Ashok SARAF’s pair in Yes Boss deserves more appreciation

JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained, who lost?

SRK & Ashok SARAF’s pair in Yes Boss deserves more appreciation

February 13, 2021 by Keyur Seta 6 Comments

There have been some comic, non-romantic male pairs in Hindi cinema since the 1990s. Govinda-Kader Khan, Kader Khan-Shakti Kapoor, Akshay Kumar-Paresh Rawal, etc, are the ones that come to our mind instantly. But a pair that I consider as impressive as these ones is that of Shah Rukh Khan and Ashok Saraf in Aziz Mirza’s Yes Boss (1997).

It’s an unusual pair for sure. Both the actors have different personalities, mannerisms, acting skills and temperaments. Plus, one was an emerging Bollywood star while the other had already acquired the status of a legend in Marathi cinema.

Sometimes, the more unusual the pair, the more are its chances of standing out, especially while doing comedy, and that is exactly what happened with SRK and Saraf in this movie.

Yes Boss saw Khan play Rahul, an ambitious youngster eager to be rich and own a dream office. To achieve his mission, he doesn’t mind bootlicking his boss Siddharth (Aditya Pancholi), which also involves hiding his extra-marital affairs. Siddharth falls for the beautiful Seema (Juhi Chawla), who starts modelling for his firm. He takes Rahul’s help to woo her as usual. However, Rahul also falls for her.

SRK-Ashok Saraf in Yes Boss — Ashok Saraf and Shah Rukh Khan

Saraf played Rahul’s colleague and close friend Johnny. The two share a close bond in the film and are seen hanging out and confiding in each other regularly.

Khan and Saraf were cast together in Rakesh Roshan’s Karan Arjun (1995) but their characters weren’t related to each other. They hardly interacted.

Yes Boss was the first time that the two actors played a pair of characters involved with each other. However, it didn’t look like that. Their chemistry and tuning appeared so natural that it seemed as if they have been playing each other’s co-stars since a long time.

As soon as they appear together on-screen, you are either laughing or smiling, all thanks to their chemistry, acting skills and antics. The scene where Rahul tries to shoo off Johnny so that he can share a private chat with Seema is one such amusing scene.

But what takes the cake is the moment when Khan and Saraf are seen bathing together in the same tub while singing ‘Muqabla Muqabla, O Laila.’ This is followed by their embarrassing moment in the corridor of the hotel because they are only wearing a towel as a cloth.

See the tub scene in this video

Now, who would have thought of such a tub scene with Khan and Saraf? (See in the video above). In today’s times, this would instantly make us question if they are homosexuals. But when I saw the film for the first time in my childhood, obviously I didn’t even think of such a thing. I am sure same is the case with others as well then.

The outcome of SRK and Saraf’s pair appears appealing even today. That’s why these days the more I think of the film, the more I wonder why nothing is spoken or written about this hilarious pairing in the numerous movie related articles and discussions on the internet and social media.

It’s still not too late.

Needless to say, I feel the SRK-Saraf pair should have been explored more in the last 20 years or so.

Maybe, it’s still not too late for this as well…

Also read:

Fact check: Was Deepika Padukone paid Rs 5 crore to attend JNU protests?

JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained, who lost?

#JusticeForSSR now has NO place on news channels. Who gained, who lost?

November 20, 2020 by Keyur Seta 7 Comments

Roughly few months ago, some Indian news channels had promised to give justice to the deceased Sushant Singh Rajput (SSR). As per the official version, the actor died of suicide on 14 June at his residence in Mumbai.

But these channels, like plenty of What’s App forwards, started spreading the theory that he was murdered and if there’s anyone who can give justice to Rajput, it is them. Hence, there was non-stop coverage on his death with channels ready to interview just about anyone who can speak on SSR – from Karni Sena members to anybody claiming to be the late actor’s friend.

One channel claimed to have all the proofs to support their claim of murder even as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who was handed over the case, still hasn’t come up with any such murder theory.

This resulted in crores of viewers getting carried away by the hyper coverage. They kept sharing posts related to SSR almost every minute while appealing to the authorities to punish SSR’s supposed murderers in the strictest way.

All this while, the fake news circulation on What’s App and social media reached another low. Among the many fake messages, the one that takes the cake was that SSR’s ‘murder’ was seen live by some Hindi film stars in their homes. I recently met one highly educated person who considers this ‘news’ about SSR to be absolutely true. And there are many more like him.

The sub-plot of the murder theory was the drugs angle in which SSR’s girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty and few others were arrested. These arrests were celebrated as if India got another freedom.

However, over the last few weeks, the campaign for SSR’s death has just died down. The timing for this is most interesting. It strangely coincided with the Bihar elections, which were recently over. As the people of the state finished casting their vote, SSR’s case faded away from the TV screens.

It was also during the campaign for the Bihar elections that BJP came out with a pamphlet with SSR’s face on it. [See below and read more about it HERE]. A clear indication that his death was just a political tool for them.

In this entire circus, it was the common public that was taken for a ride. Crores of people invested their time, energy and data while getting agitated online, considering themselves to be some sort of warriors. Only for it to boil down to nothing.

You indirectly helped these TV channels earn money, ratings and market their brand value. Today, the same channels have dropped the #JusticeForSSR issue like a hot potato. Just before publishing the report, a cursory check to these news channels showed that SSR’s death found no place on any of them.

Some news channels and political parties aren’t the only ones to gain from it. A YouTuber reportedly earned Rs 15 lakh from making fake videos related to SSR’s death. And his isn’t the only YouTube channel to gain from it. Again, it was the common public who made him earn a bomb.

Also, we didn’t realize when #JusticeForSSR slowly transformed into justice for a ‘news’ anchor, who was recently arrested. As soon as he was released on bail, his jubilant celebrations made it look like the last scene of a movie while the end credits are rolling – a contemporary way to say ‘The End!’

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

SSR’s death definitely won’t be the last issue out of which a tamasha was created. There will be many more in the future.

The question to be asked is whether we will take this as a lesson learnt or get carried away again in the future. Going by how heavily people got influenced this time, I personally don’t have much hopes.

Sorry babu…

Additional reading:

Expecting MIRACLES from CBI in Sushant case isn’t smart

5 questions on the ongoing DRUGS probe in Sushant’s case

September 26, 2020 by Keyur Seta Leave a Comment

The Sushant Singh Rajput death case was handed over to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) after continuous demand for the same was raised by his family and a large section of the population.

But soon after that, the chaos in media and on social media have left many of us confused as to where is the whole thing headed. It makes me wonder whether all that is happening is actually related to Sushant’s death.

These 5 questions are lurking on my mind these days:

How SSR’s death probe got transformed into Bollywood drugs scandal?

It all started with the aim of giving justice to the late Sushant by handing over his death case to the CBI. So far so good. But as soon as the NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau) got involved, the focus completely changed from #JusticeToSSR or #SSRMurder to exposing the drug racket in Bollywood.

Those noisy news channels that were shouting murder just a fortnight ago are now only aiming at exposing the drug nexus in the film industry. In a latest update, Sushant’s family itself is unhappy with how the focus has changed ever since the drug angle cropped up.

Why only female actors being named?

It is strange to see only female actors’ names cropping up in the drug investigation. Are drugs taken only by leading ladies of the industry? What do the male stars use? Glucon D? None of the noisy news anchors are finding anything fishy in this.

What is the final aim?

With the speed at which one actress after another is being called up for allegedly consuming drugs, it leaves us wondering as to what is the final aim of all this. If they continue reading private chats of actors, more names are expected to crop up, which will be a never-ending process. So where is it supposed to end?

How do these screenshots reach news channels?

A former director of the NCB said on a news channel that the anti-narcotics agency is expected to try and catch the main peddler from the names of film stars that come up in the investigation. But what they are actually doing is leaking chat screenshots to the news channels, so that they can carry out tamasha every night.

People don’t seem to be questioning how every screenshot, which is an evidence, is being handed over to the news channels. We can understand if they get leaked once or twice, but daily?

Also read: ‘Anti-nepotism’ brigade has created a TOXIC atmosphere online

Who exactly is on drugs?

In the last few days, we have regularly seen visuals of reporters banging the shut windows of various actresses’ cars and repeatedly asking if they consume drugs. They clearly know that their voice would be hardly audible and they won’t be able to hear anything in case they get an answer.

What took the cake though was one reporter screaming and forcing her driver to overtake Deepika Padukone’s car, whose windows are shut, and asking the actress in the highest pitch possible, “Kya drugs leti hain aap?”

Well, who appears to be on drugs here?

Additional reading:

SSR case: Why is KARNI Sena forgiven & shown respect?