Journalism of Courage
Last week,an image of a voluptuous,semi-nude woman,with luscious hair covering her vital assets,was splashed in some newspapers. The first response may be sympathy for animals as the words Save Tiger and Save Peacock,inked sloppily on the models arms and back,stare at you. But the very next instant,you notice the messy grammar as well as the tackiness of the image.
However Kavita Radheshyam,a small-time actor from Mumbai,who posed for these pictures,didnt find anything awry with them. In fact,she felt confident that people would empathise with animals and become aware about the dwindling numbers of tigers. Her assumption wasnt entirely off the mark. When Radheshyam sent her pictures to International Organisation for Animal Protection (OIPA),a UN-affiliated animal welfare group,they promptly signed her on as brand ambassador. After I finished my photo-shoot in the buff,I wrote to various animal groups,asking them if they were interested in my photos. Only OIPA showed interest, gushes the 26-year-old.
She is not the only one who has,in the last few months,sought a short cut to fame through exposing. After Kingfisher Calendar girl Poonam Pandey offered to strip to the nude for Team India if they won the Cricket World Cup,Peta approached her for an animals rights campaign. She didnt respond to them. But Peta seems to know how to fire their shots. Take the instance of 24-year-old Mumbai-based actress Liza Malik who was suddenly in the news after a bookie allegedly harassed her to fix a match during the IPL 4 season. She had apparently become friendly with a cricketer during Dancing Queen,a dance show on Colors,and the bookie wanted to exploit her closeness to some players. She was ruffled enough for Peta to notice. They approached her for a series of pictures against the use of real leather in cricket balls. They needed someone who would shed her clothes. She needed a way to whitewash her tarnished reputation through a good deed. She signed up and was soon seen posing with a huge cut out of a white leather ball,covering her strategically. Animal love had little to do with her decision.
What appears like animal empathy is,for some,a way to defend themselves in tricky situations or cash in on nudity. Whichever sells better. Posing for Petas campaign was a convenient way of getting back at the critics who thought I was pulling a publicity stunt with the bookie rumour, chirps Malik,who has also signed a Bengali film with Mithun Chakraborty. And,Radheshyam says she had felt horrified,watching villagers beating a leopard on a Hindi news channel.
Animal rights groups Peta,has no qualms about using small-time celebrities to advocate their cause. Most Peta India ads show celebrities fully clothed,but when celebrities show some skin,it gets a lot of attention. So why not show a bit of skin to save the skin of animals? remarks Sachin Bangera,spokesperson,Peta India.
In the past,they have featured
actors like Imran Khan,Shahid Kapoor,Lara Dutta,Raveena Tandon,John Abraham and Hema Malini in their campaigns. None posed in the buff. Meanwhile,OIPAs Indian representative,Naresh Kadyan,who is also the founding chairman for People for Animals (PFA),Haryana,is elated at the prospect of finally having found a female ambassador. Once ladies are attached to your cause,then more people take notice, he says. By posing for us,her objective of seeking attention has been fulfilled and so is our motive of getting our message of animal welfare across. Now,she will probably bag movie roles easily, continues Kadyan,who has signed up celebrities like model Parvesh Rana for Save Tiger and reality show comedian,Khayali Saharan,who campaigns for Saving Peacock.
It was,in fact,Kadyan,who protested in a letter to the BCCI,against Pandey seeking cheap publicity for her stripping threat during the World Cup Finals. Radhesyham is meanwhile reveling in the attention.
This is no publicity stunt and the images were meant to be sleazy and vulgar. It is my way of telling people that if you can kill tigers for their skin,I am willing to take my clothes off, comments Radheshyam,who has done bit roles in director-producer Faisal Saifs controversial film,Paanch Ghantey Mein Paanch Crore,which releases in August,and his second film,Om Allah,which is underway.
In stark contrast,singer Monica Dogra posed in a cage wearing a skin-coloured top to create awareness about cruelty towards chickens. She is urging fans to consider the suffering of chickens cramped in cages, says Bangera. While Malik has been flooded with offers for reality shows and TV commercials,she keeps us guessing about her next move. But Radhesyham is strong-willed,and stands by her commitment to the cause of animal rights,even though offers for commercials and movies pour in. Poor tigers.
