Winter is coming Mr. Johar – be very afraid.



Just when you felt that Bollywood was evolving and women were finally get the voice and respect they deserve, IIFA in New York saw Karan Johar, Saif Ali Khan and Varun Dhawan mock Kangana Ranaut, and rekindle the whole who’s the most nepotistic of them all controversy. In a shocking display of the chauvinism, arrogance and male privilege that continues to plague Bollywood, the three men ganged up against a successful female actor, demanding her silence and mocking her on an international platform as the world watched. Bravo!!

Just when we thought we had laid the nepotism tantrum to rest, Karan Johar chose to prove the accusations against him right. What an otherwise articulate and progressive Saif Ali Khan, and barely out his Bollywood diapers Varun Dhawan were doing, is anybody’s guess.
Dhawan, whose father made some of the crassest and commercially successful films in the 90’s, won an award for being in a such a film, where his abs put in a searing performance. Handing the award over to him were Saif, who has not had a successful film since who knows when, and Karan Johar, whose last film was a not so mushkil rehash of three other films. 

Three idiots


Under the guise of self-deprecating humour that has now become the staple of award show scripts, the three men accused each other of being there because of their respective parents ended their sad little gig with chants of Nepotism ROCKS!! They also proceeded to sing “Bole chudiya, bole kangana” to which Karan’s response was “Kangana na bole toh hi acha hain” (It’s better if Kangana says nothing).

Sorry guys, as much as you would like, you can’t tape her mouth shut by virtue of being male, insiders or powerful.

Usually on Johar’s firmly frivolous and nepotistic show, female actors don’t voice opinions at all. They refuse to rank male actors in order of sex appeal or acting prowess since let’s face it’s the men who call the shots in an industry that’s tries very hard to seem progressive. When it comes to Johar, he is a croissant of privilege, with layers of gender, money, power, and arrogance baked together in greasy unison. To be told off by someone who is a woman, not a childhood friend, or a wealthy acquaintance, someone who has found success without the holy trinity of Khan, Chopra and Johar is as threatening as it can get. It seems to have sent him over the edge. A sad lonely bully, a man who had only just put a few tentative steps out of the closet, Johar would rather live in an ivory tower of sycophancy over braving the truth about what people really think about him

Why else would a man who tolerated pot shots at his sexuality and more for years from other guests, be so offended by comments from Kangana? He clearly seems to be saying, no matter what you do, or how successful you are, you don’t belong, and you never will. If you were a guy, I would have probably poured you a drink and laughed it off, but to be told off by a woman who comes from nothing and just learned to speak English fluently is unacceptable. So, I will use my power and privilege to humiliate you, and scare all others like you for the future.
While it is sad to see three men with the power to set things right in the industry choosing instead to stoop so low, it’s fantastic to see just how rattled they are by Kangana’s strong and independent voice and the fact that she stood up to them. The throne maybe yours for now Mr. Johar, but winter is coming, and there is just so long you can bully, shame and keep the 'others' behind the wall.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
           Grandparents. There are many emotions and memories this word or combination of words evoke. But mostly the association is with warmth, care, indulgence, great food and innumerable stories. My brother and I had the good fortune of having both sets of our grandparents around till 2013. I spent the first ten years of my life in a joint family with my paternal grandparents and as the only granddaughter, I was my Ajoba's pet. We visited my mother's parents only once a year since during the summer vacations but the time we spent with them was precious. My Dada (maternal grandfather)was an extremely intelligent and well-read man and he used to keep his two pesky grandchildren occupied with stories of Mirza the magician, a man and his adventures he made up on an everyday basis. I understand now that this was also to make sure my mother could perhaps take a shower or eat her breakfast in peace. My grandfathers were both adventurous men. They moved out of their
Read more

The buck who belled the Bhai

Image
Dear Blackbuck (ji) I wonder in all those times you were harmlessly chewing a mouthful of grass, you thought that one day you would become the topic of national interest. Twenty years ago, you were killed in cold blood by a group of privileged, drunk on their own awesomeness individuals. You see, often with great power comes zero sensitivity, and in the case of the man who killed you, this has been proven true several times. Did you know that over the past twenty years, he has become the victim and you the tormentor? Really, it’s true. His fans and fearful colleagues; whom he bullies like the mean kid on a playground, all feel killing you was no big deal. I mean come on, you were just a deer. When he crushed people to death with his car, blamed them for being poor and sleeping on a pavement and got away with it, what’s the big deal about killing a blackbuck, right? I heard a brilliant line once that’s so applicable here. It’s hard to put a leash on a dog once yo
Read more

Bollywood ki barfi: Rajkummar Rao

Image
Over the long weekend we finally watched Bareily ki Barfi over caramel popcorn and could have been avoided coffee. While the movie itself was not profound cinema it left the same pleasurable feeling that a good motichur laddoo would, a simple and small treat,  no michellin star plating needed. While the movie is aesthetically in the small town rom com genre, what sets it apart it Rajkummar Rao’s superb turn as Pritam Vidrohi, an unusual name for a most unusual role. 2017 will see him in Newton , whose trailer looks very promising, the web series, Bose dead/alive and Hansal Mehta’s Omerta which is finally premiering at TIFF. As versatile as the humble ubiquitous barfi, Rajkummar  can take any shape, or form, adding flavour to the film without drawing attention to himself.  Born and raised in Gurgaon, Rajkummar Rao, nee Yadav, graduated from FTII and got his first break playing the unscrupulous shop manager who uses a sex tape to make a quick buck. Ragini MMS, Talaash a
Read more