Sunday Snippets
By Venkatesh Raghavan
Many times I wonder how audiences got to witness what made flutters in Bollywood news. The stories remain relevant to cine goers across the country, be it family dramas or attempts at launching fresh faces or facing criminal charges or political differences thrown up by some of its towering personalities. Way back in the late seventies up to early eighties, there was a total press boycott on ‘Big B’, Amitabh Bachchan. The ice was broken later by a cover page interview carried in a leading film magazine.
Earlier, legendary playback singer Kishore Kumar faced a six month ban on Vividh Bharati owing to differences with Indira Gandhi’s regime during the emergency. The fresh faces that got launched were that of Sanjay Dutt and Kumar Gaurav. While Dutt has weathered the storms of drug addiction and conviction in the serial blasts related trial, Kumar Gaurav failed after his debut success in Love Story that paired him opposite Vijayta Pandit.
That was the time around which thespian Dilip Kumar chose to step out of his retirement with movies like Vidhatha and Shakti. Subsequently Anil Kapoor made it big with Tezaab and Amir Khan’s Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak had a dream run with its popular number “Papa Kehte hain…”. Next, it was the turn of a rare outsider choosing to walk into the film industry’s citadels. Shahrukh Khan who first got noticed for his roles in television serials Fauji and Circus had a dream debut film that was followed by a series of hits.
That was the phase in which the younger lot werehaving an upward swing, including Govinda, Salmaan Khan, Amir and Shahrukh. It coincided with the downward swing of Big B’s fortune that eventually changed after he became popular with KBC, a game show. ‘Big B’ at the same time turned wise to getting aged and started playing character roles that suited the audience’s palate better.
Amidst the slew of spiraling fortunes also came controversies surrounding actor Salman Khan that warranted criminal prosecution. He was booked in an alleged drunken driving case that resulted in deaths of pavement dwellers at Bandra and subsequently also charged with the killing of a black buck in the forests of Rajasthan. While Salman has currently been acquitted in the drunken driving case with a clean chit from the apex court, the black buck case is still pending with the courts. The relief came for Salman around the time Sunjay Dutt completed his conviction term in connection with possession of illegal arms in a notified area.
In between there was also a big political squabble, owing to Shahrukh Khan being in favour of including Pakistani cricketers in the Indian Premier League teams. Shahrukh had spelt it out that there was no harm if Pakistani players were auctioned for the IPL teams to choose. This had irked the Shiv Sena that saw red and sparked violent reactions across the city. There was a lot of steam that built up at the time of release of his starrer, My Name is Khan. The media focus was on Shiv Sainiks tearing down posters of Khan’s upcoming film and protests outside Shahrukh Khan’s bungalow, Mannat. It all subsided with a disguised apology issued by the star, stating, “I apologize if anyone feels offended with any of my statements.”
Much later, post 2014, it was the Bollywood’s turn to face a polarized environment. After Amir Khan’s wife expressed apprehensions over safety of dwelling in India, there was a heavy media backlash against Amir and his wife, both in social media and television channels. Much later, there arrived the “us versus them” syndrome with Kangana Ranaut flaying the Khans in the industry with a heavily communal overtone.
There was a slew of allegations against film fraternity for abetting the suicide death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput. It included accusations against actress Rhea Chakraborty for money laundering and a host of other actors for supply and possession of narcotic drugs. As the outcry reached its natural death after the Bihar elections, another drama was hyped up. That was of Shahrukh Khan’s son Aryan being arrested in relation with possession and consumption of narcotic drugs. This too petered out as the higher court observed that there was absolutely no evidence to this effect either in the WhatsApp chats or for that matter in the testing that had taken place.
As of today, Bollywood is plagued more with financial straits owing to theaters being forced to operate on 50% capacity and pandemic restrictions that restrict movement over the city’s lifeblood, namely the train services. Seeking healthier economics is the priority rather than any lasting controversy.
