Off-screen humbug

So one has the incongruous situation of movie stars shooting black bucks at the same time as they pledge their organs. Salman Khan, among those who has been charged with killing two black bucks in Jodhpur, was recently seen upholding the cause of organ donation for a corporatehospital in the Capital, following the lead of muscle-man Sunil Shetty. Aishwarya Rai, probably suffering from a hangover of her Miss World days, has famously given her eyes for posterity. Manisha Koirala goes on television every day to tell the world what a fine job the Delhi Government has done for mothers, for 8220;if the woman is all right, so will the country be8221;. At the same time, her sometime co-star and popular role model Shahrukh Khan sees nothing wrong in promoting a whiskey label. Of course, he follows in the footsteps of Shatrughan Sinha, who is now a member of Parliament, for a party which would shrink from the thought of being seen with a bottle. The BJP, in fact, seems to have an unfortunate record of attracting starry offenders 8212; recently-elected Gurdaspur MP Vinod Khanna was paid good money to endorse not just pan masala but also, indirectly, the virtues of gambling.

You could say movie stars have no moral obligation to society. You could also be right. But try telling that to Shabana Azmi,who could be crowned the Queen of Causes. She made a career of protecting the slum-dwellers of Mumbai, much before the Shiv Sena hit upon the idea of housing societies for them. But lately she seems to have realised that AIDS, especially in the company of Richard Gere, is a better way of generating column inches. Not that one is opposed to the concept of getting mileage. What8217;s a star without the urge to be seen? But does one have to tolerate their humbug? Isn8217;t it enough that politicians subject the nation to moral science lessons? Must stiletto-shod movie stars follow in their footsteps? If a Sanjay Dutt advocates a drug-free life, one can at least swallow his advice without smarting because of the experience factor. But let Hindi film actors not treat vital health issues as photo-opportunities. The health of the nation is not just some fitness centre or sari store which needs a glamourous ribbon-cutter. It is an affair that requires a level of commitment that Elizabeth Taylor could give to AIDS and few ofthese stars can match. If they are looking for a cause, though, they could start with the quality of cinema that the nation has to watch. Movie star efforts in that direction would be very welcome.

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