Dear Bollywood Tweeple
I'm really glad that some of you have stood by the actress, your friend, in a situation that warrants support at a time like this.
Of course, the news item was of an old clip, taken from an unflattering angle and pushed as "news" since the actress was in the news for her wonderful performance in Finding Fanny.
While the portal was just "creating news" to be in the news, I believe it went overboard in sensationalizing the issue. Deepika Padukone has felt hurt and she has every right to express the exact way she feels at being demeaned in a manner like this.
I salute her guts for taking on the media.
But what I really don't understand is why some of you have so selectively taken a stance for Deepika and have slammed the said publication? Just a few weeks ago, there was an even more devastating bit of news of someone your very own, which warranted voices from Bollywood to speak up. But sadly, not many spoke up for Shweta Basu Prasad?
Twitter was a silent zone!
As the National Award winner was being vilified in the media [while the businessmen got away scot free], it was her screen mother, Saakshi Tanwar, who stood for the helpless girl.
Maybe, because Shweta Basu Prasad is not an 'A' Lister ...
Don't get me wrong, tell me, why none of you come out on twitter slamming lyrics that shame women, if you all are so concerned about women? Or is that OK? Chalta hai...
Who cares if six-year-old girls are thrusting their "non-existent" bosoms or swaying their hips like Sheila or Chikni Chameli on screen, mouthing vulgar lyrics?
Remember 'Fevicol se'?
Main toh tandoori murgi hoon yaar
Gatkaa le saiyyan alcohol se... O yea!
This is fine, right? No need to slam this sort of muck which degrades women? These are not the only lyrics that have made many women hang their head in shame… the list goes on ...
In Zanjeer, Priyanka Chopra mouthed a song that went thus:
Arey paisa phenk, tamasha dekh,
Naachegi Pinky full to late….
Mumbai ki na Dilli waalon ki…
Pinky hai paise waalon ki...
The clincher was:
Mera network kabhi fail hota nahi..
Har mohalle mein haaye mera tower khada.
But in an earlier film, Shootout at Wadala, she ensured that the item song Babli Badmaash Hai had no double meaning! WOW!!
If you really feel about women being degraded, you will find plenty to tweet about as far as objectionable lyrics or even bosom-thrusting scenes onto the camera "directly onto the face of the audience" is concerned. Remember the "roving" camera in Ram Gopal Varma's Not A Love Story?
Why be selective?
Bollywood has come a long way right from the time flowers touched to depict a kiss to a glass of milk falling to depict a marriage being consummated to lip-locks and now even elaborating about a tongue kiss [sic]. And mind you, to glorify that tongue-kiss sequence, the production house has advertised in the same publication! (Bollywood goes beyond lip-locks, literally!)
The saddest part is no one came out in support of Ranbir Kapoor when the condom controversy broke out on Koffee With Karan. The host and his guests (Deepika included) had a hearty laugh on the show. It was only Rishi Kapoor who stood up for his son.
"Appalled ... shocked and disgusted at the level of disrespect shown ... Deepika or any women in the world cannot and should not stand for this!!" Karan Johar tweets.
Really, Karan?
I will end by commenting on Homi Adajania's tweet, whose movie I loved. This is what it says:
"We just slam ourselves back into the dark ages! Reputed channels inciting regressive s***. What are they thinking?! Sad!"
Well, Homi Sir, what were you thinking when you titled your film Finding Fanny? Isn't that slamming yourself back into the dark ages, buddy?
Now, I really don't know what the meaning of double standard is; I'm busy looking for the meaning of Fanny.
I hope I have not overreacted. If I have, I am sorry. I too am concerned about the way women are depicted ... in the media as well as on the big screen!
God Bless You
Martin D'Souza
