Sushant

It’s been more than a month and half, since that unsettling Sunday afternoon.

The news of Sushant Singh Rajput’s death was beyond comprehension. Why would such a promising actor take his own life? His death rattled the consciousness of an average Indian movie goer. Most knew him as a promising and terrific actor. But in death, the whole world woke up to the fact that, that Sunday afternoon, a dreamer of impeccable talent in multiple fields, from cinema to physics, whose bucket list included visit to places like CERN, just left the world, rather coldly.

His death opened, Pandora’s box and from it flew, evils, existence of which, we the audience, tucked in our web of neutrality always choose to ignore. Being neutral always helps the predator, never the prey – why did we forget that?

Sushant’s death was re-confirmed to the masses within minutes, with pictures of his dead body circulating in social media, an inhumane and insensitive act, whoever started it. Even before the body went cold, his death was attributed to suicide due to depression. The following days saw a spike in articles on depression; the sheer number of such articles gave steady competition to Corona related articles. Timelines were flooded with offers on being a call away in case people wanted to “talk”. The fact that most people, discussed a topic like depression with such a sketchy and shallow understanding, is a matter to be dealt independently.

Then came the subject of nepotism. It gave a constructive platform to many who were victimized. The narrative progressed with stories of back stabbing, social isolation, paid adulation and award scripting. When more and more people started talking out, it became clear; how much of almost everything is fixed in this world. No wonder, we have been fed with absolute non-sense in the name of commercial Hindi cinema!

But then, the quality of commercial Hindi cinema has always been questionable. Once in an interview, Satyajit Ray, called the larger Indian audience as backward (intellectually), unsophisticated and exposed to commercial Hindi cinema. Commercial Hindi cinema is notorious for dishing out half-baked characters and stories; relying heavily on ornate presentation rather than layering or depth in content. This formula, however, gives high return on investment and has unfortunately, been emulated in regional cinema as well, collectively creating bouquet of sub-standard Cinema. To survive in such an industry, what one requires is commercial ruthlessness, which may or may not have anything to do with talent, creativity, ethics or morality. Sushant was part of this world. Yet actors like him are seen as a beacon of hope for change, someone capable of giving this field, quality future.  

The outrage over Sushant’s death, is because we, the audience, are ashamed. We are ashamed that our neutrality has been equated to being moronic. We are ashamed that, while he was alive, we didn’t question the unfairness of his world. We didn’t question the array of sub-standard movies meted out to us in the name of entertainment. We are ashamed that we lapped up bullying of talents in chat shows, eloquently served in sophisticated English, as humour. We are ashamed of listening to remixed and re-remixed howling that is called “songs” and yet never gather the courage, to report it inappropriate and demand for proper songs. We are ashamed of having ignored talents, beyond famous surnames and progeny. Seeking justice and answers in Sushant’s death is our way of seeking redemption to the mess we helped create.

Cinema is an engaging and powerful art form. It is designed to make an audience sit through a narrative of 90-180 minutes, at a stretch. During this period, we, surrender our senses and thoughts to the evolution of characters and depictions in the frame. The psychological impact, certain depictions have on our minds, especially the young ones, are far reaching. If the genre we encourage, is the one propagating vile objectification and illogical narration, supported by too many ornaments (like catchy songs, over the top action sequence, actors looking more like Victoria Secret Models or high end fashion), our sense of appreciation for this art form will take a drastic deterioration in the long run. It isn’t too late to step back and shun crass content.

The narrative on Sushant's death has changed to that of toxic relationship and deception. In a world that thrives on stories, it is hard to say, whether this is a story, to protect a few.  

Who killed Sushant? The correct answer, does have the potential to clean commercial Hindi cinema.

NOT SO SOCIAL

Couple of days ago, my facebook timeline was flooded with videos on some kind of social media war – YouTubers vs TikTokers. I’m yet to understand why facebook algorithm predicted that I may be interested in such a topic? Nevertheless, here I was, checking out the videos.

For the uninitiated, an Indian Youtuber whose handle goes by the name, CarryMinati came out with a series of roasting videos on Indian TikTok influencers. He specifically called out an influencer named Faisu, who uploaded a video normalizing what looked like an acid attack over spurned love. What followed is a barrage of videos by both Youtubers and TikTokers, each slamming, shamming and name calling the other. Subsequently some kind of truce seems to have happened. But online war is like opening a Pandora box. Now there are n number of entertainers who are coming with their 60 secs of “viewpoint” on the fight.

More than the fight, it was the way the Parties went ahead with ranting, that should ring an alarm bell. The fact that, the demography of bulk of the followers (some online statistics put it as high as 80-85%) of these so-called influencers falls in the age bracket of 16-24-year olds, should be a matter of concern.

Let’s start with the language. In the name of roasting, obscene language is used. Honestly, finding a video amongst these highly rated influencers, which doesn’t have a single obscene word is like looking for a needle in a haystack. It doesn’t matter whether the rant is in English or Hindi or Hinglish or any vernacular language – the extent to which vulgar vocabulary is deployed, is deplorable. Civil language and ability to convey satire through smart comedy is an art out of fashion or maybe lacking swag, I guess. I even came across a video wherein the influencer justified such language as, yeh tho just inka kaam hain (this is just their work).

Now comes the portion that makes these influencers heartthrobs – Content. Content is a joke and over abused word here. Someone makes a weird face in an equally weird make-up and over the top hairstyle (if you can call that hair!). Someone makes farting sound with a oh-so-funny expression. Someone prepares a duet showing girl’s expression after a gang rape in one segment and boys coming out buttoning-up their shirts in the other segment. Someone shaves off her eyebrows. Someone rants for 60 secs in a language, Gangs of Wasseypur Part I and Part II together, couldn’t manage. Someone jumps into an indoor pool promising his girlfriend a trip to London! Someone ditches her boyfriend for a richer guy because that’s what girls apparently aspire to do in life!

Of course, there are good and decent content amidst this pile. But the problem with most online platform’s algorithm is, once you watch 2-3 videos of a specific genre, your timeline gets flooded with suggestions of similar nature. One cannot afford to be casual while surfing anymore. For eg. I watched a few videos with content having sadistic or shamming undertone and my timeline had similar content queuing up. To break the chain (!) I had to consciously search and watch videos which I otherwise prefer. The cleansing process had a slow effect and took me good 2 days before my timeline was curated.

Imagine the ease with which kids and youngsters will get gobbled up into such cynical content in the name of entertainment! It is a situation wherein you are sucked into something not productive or constructive or entertaining and are made to believe that, this is the trending genre. The content is replicated by other aspiring influencers wanting likewise engagement and in a matter of few hours, similar videos are playing all over the timeline. Worsening things further, the algorithm gives a similar suggestion to your friend’s timeline. With FOMO, the entire chain laps up the content and whoosh – we have a viral video with absolute garbage in the name of content. 

The influencers got their engagement, brands they promote got a hit, the App reads more of your phone activity and network is happy to push bulk data. All are winners, except the user who is unfortunately the Product and has ended up with restricted control in their own digital space!

Next time you login, which maybe just couple of minutes later, you will find same type of content from some other influencer, links from brands that featured in the earlier video and App suggesting more of the content you liked earlier as diversity seems to be irrelevant.

Social media's impact is far reaching. Remember how it stirred the Arab Spring or in recent times the Hong Kong protest in a matter of few shares! When you create an account with anonymous name, please don’t be fooled to believe that you are invisible. You and your entire digital footprint (which ironically contains every detailed aspect of your life) is available for sale. You are the Product. The market is now flooded with Products whose age is between 16-24 years and they are sell-offs.   

Regulation and restrain are words viewed with lot of scepticism. As I heard online – those are words for losers and old generations. However, there are times when people need to be reminded that being decent is not just a virtue but a necessity for maintaining sanity in the world. If we keep throwing rubbish on each other, we will end up with a garbage pile! If timely regulation and restrain is not imposed on such obnoxious digital content, digital ethics will end up as an oxymoron.

Meanwhile, a former Walt Disney man has been appointed as CEO of TikTok and COO of its parent company ByteDance! Just saying!

Ode to The Warrior

Childhood days with Doordarshan. Sundays were particularly hectic and I used to dread tests on Mondays. The most awaited show during those days were “Chandrakantha”. That serial brought in a galaxy of artists and with it I first met Badrinath alias Somnath alias the very talented “Irrfan Khan” - an unassuming, tall guy, with penetrating big eyes.

For a young girl who was more interested in the so-called “parallel” cinema, actors like Irrfan, were heroes. My tryst with cinema isn’t either frequent or religious. So, I will not attempt in chronicling, Irrfan’s film journey. This is the journey, a young ordinary girl had with a great actor, whose movies gave her an opportunity for soul searching. So, years later when the same young girl, now a lady, picked up the CD of “The Warrior”, the bill boy in the store couldn’t hide his quizzing look, as though asking “are you serious?”. Yes I was serious about good movies and Irrfan Khan stood for what was good and challenging that movies could offer.

To this day, I believe, The Warrior is Irrfan’s, the best performance. The anguish of a man who knows that remorse is not enough to wash off his sins this lifetime and yet pursuing salvation which he knows will not be his – I fail to imagine another man in his place to do justice to such a myriad complex character. That’s why Irrfan connected so deeply with ordinary people like me.

An ordinary man is not ordinary when it comes to experiencing conflicting emotions. He struggles between the spectrums of happiness, grief, fear and anger, sometimes all at once. Irrfan knew what it means to be conflicted and he never shied away from showing it on screen. In Maqbool he was the man torn between love and ambition. Subsequently when he conquers both, guilt engulfed – a brilliant portrayal of raw vulnerabilities. In Life of Pi he presented a story within a story and compelled with his smile and eyes for us to accept what we felt was the lesser evil. In Saat Khoon Maaf he was the sadistic husband whose poetry and cruelty rhymed perfectly. Irrfan didn’t just essay a role. When he was on screen, he stirred emotions that unsettled his audience.

The world started shrinking, with international cinema featuring more and more of Indian actors. For the fan in me, it was absolute jubilation watching Irrfan don roles in movies like Slumdog Millionaire, Namesake or Jurrassic Park. Somewhere he redefined the very word “cinema”. Otherwise, how can one explain Lunchbox – the story for a retirement bound lonely man ruffling the mind of a young homemaker through mere words to live again. How can one explain Piku – a carefree taxi owner who has a simple straight solution while not forgetting his sarcasm. Or for that matter, how can one explain Paan Singh Tomar, that anguished Olympian turned dacoit. Just when I thought his content-oriented performance is skyrocketing, Irrfan does a classic mic drop act, featuring in video spoof of Bollywood party songs with the now defunct AIB. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard over a song. Even glossy comedy gets a classy makeover when Irrfan does it with his straight and down to earth act. That’s what legends are made of.

And today, that legend is gone. He is gone after a battle. I wept my heart out. I wept for a man I never met in person, but met a million times in all those numerous frames. I grew up watching Irrfan fire up the screen with characters that were conflicted yet content, hurt yet happy, agonized yet fully alive.

Irrfan, with those curious eyes and disarming smile, you gave this ordinary woman more than just good cinema. You gave her stories to ponder over, acts to cherish and a soothing smile that calms the soul. Heavens are lucky, for they have the Warrior performer joining the league.