Every now and then I see or read something which makes me laugh(and I'm not talking about Balaji Telefilms' soaps here) at the sheer frivolity of its content. I recently read this piece in the Sify news column section where the writer is thrashing the Bachhan family as 'anti-woman' and what not. In fact, the writer thinks Mr. Bachhan is not even worthy of being a 'role model'...hmmm..interesting. What are his reasons..one may ask..? Well...the whole 'Sankat Mochan' deal for one, and the fact that Mr. Bachhan has not opened a charitable hospital as yet! Whoa!..that's just amazing.
I am a manglik myself and believe you me, when I say that I did almost as much for my wife as Aishwarya had to do for the safety of Abhishek Bachhan..lol. Did I believe in it? NO...but it doesn't harm me much to visit a couple of temples, offer my prayers to God so that all my elders and loved ones are satisfied and not worried about the safety of my wife...does it? Whatever Aishwarya did before her wedding was not because she was coerced into it by the 'anti-woman' Bachhan family...I'm sure she was happy to do that.
The author also seems to have a problem with the fact that Mr. Bachhan is making hordes of money for himself and his family while doing nothing for the society. Well...if he really did indulge himself in social causes and charity, my respect for him will grow manifold, no doubt...but the fact that he doesn't isn't going to make me call him unworthy of being a role model. A role model doesn't necessarily have to be a jack of all trades..Mr. Bachhan is an actor, an entertainer....and if you were to ask anybody in this country(or overseas for that matter) to name just one Indian actor who can be called a role model, it would be him.
The author thinks history isn't made by the Amitabh Bachhans, Shahrukh Khans and Ambanis but P.T. Usha's, Dhyanchands and Arundhati Roys. What hospitals have the latter three built? What charitable donations have they made? Yes, they are an integral part of Modern India's history too, agreed, but so are the former three. That they make insane amounts of money is not something I'll hold against them, and neither should you. If the money earned versus money donated analogy is anything to go by then every top CEO, investment banker and high ranking NRI should also be put under the microscope. So why only Mr. Bachhan....why spew so much venom over the Amitabh Bachhans and Shahrukh Khans? Because they are famous and successful..and you are not?
"Celebrity is as celebrity does"--Mr. Bachhan does what is expected of him. He acts, entertains us...what more do you want? He's not the Prime Minister of India you see. What happens inside his doors or his cultural/traditional beliefs or choice of political friends mean zilch to me. The author goes on to call SRK a money making machine...what's the point? It's not like he's indulging in hawala or robbing a bank, advertisers/corporates are happy to pay him the money, the people are more than happy to pay for the ticket prices....so what's you point sir? The author doesn't even spare the actresses/models and calls them 'alleged Mother Teresa followers'..huh? Now what's so wrong in saying one respects Mother Teresa, what would you rather have them do...say that they despise Mother Teresa? Or would you rather have them actually opening up Aashrams because they were bonded in some invisible contract just for uttering respectful words for Mother Teresa?
Finally, one should not bring down these allged 'money making machines' for a simple fact that it's actually them who provide the overflow for what you call classy and relevant. Stop criticising the Bachhans, the Khans, the Chopras, the Johars, the Ambanis, the Tatas, the Mittals. These are the people who provide the overflow for the Irrfan Khans, the Pankaj Kapurs, the Anurag Kashyaps, the Bheja Fry(ies), the NGOs etc etc. Do you think the money for all social causes, the hospitals, the meaningful cinema etc etc. just springs up from the ground? Everybody has a particular socio-economic role in any society/culture/country and they should be given the freedom to do so..it's a cyclic thing..one begets the other.
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