Star bores

Yup. This was meant to be about the serial Thoda Hai... and some really revolting advertisements but people get you so mad, you get madde...

Yup. This was meant to be about the serial Thoda Hai8230; and some really revolting advertisements but people get you so mad, you get maddened simply thinking about them. In this case, actresses Karisma Kapoor and Tara Deshpande, actors Anupam Kher and Shah Rukh Khan. Who tore themselves away from another Rs.1 lakh per minute shoot or whatever ridiculous amount they earn for their histrionic talents and adorned QTI Question Time India, BBC. The word adorn8217; is advisedly used as frequently, the camera found them striking individual postures: the Khan would rock back and forth with one foot resting on the other knee; the Kher would rear back and point an imperious, admonishing finger at the audience; la Kapoor swivelled about, giggling like a naughty, spoilt schoolgirl and la Deshpande was only a little less worse if one can put it that way perhaps because she hasn8217;t been long or successful enough in the industry. Never before, on QTI or on the original Question Time, havepanellists behaved as if they were sitting on thrones addressing their subjects.

But then, never before have we had such a collection of smug, self-satisfied people. Sitting there, together, there was one huge smile on their silly faces, extending from Shah Rukh on the left to Anupam on the right. They behaved, throughout the one hour programme, as though they were granting the people in the studio and at home in front of their TV sets, a rare audience. By their body language and their responses, they made it quite clear that they were way above public opinion even though Shah Rukh Khan admitted the public had created him, they were way, way above being held responsible for their professional actions. Now isn8217;t that amazing? Would they accept such an answer from any body else in any other field?

Each time the actors were asked about the harmful impact of their film roles on viewers, they laughed the matter off ha-ha, insisted they had no responsibility towards their subjects, sorry public. They were,after all, simply doing their jobs to the best of their ability; they were only there to entertain us to the best of their abilities. Shah Rukh went so far as to claim he was just an ordinary bloke doing a job of work like everyone else and never mind if he got paid crores more than everyone else.

Anupam Kher went onto the offensive and ended up being just that. He would point a finger at his interrogator then counter-attack with his own questions. 8220;Do you do read the Vedas or some such8230; do you do this and that every morning?8221; he wanted to know. If the person had the temerity to answer No8217;, he leapt down his or her throat the way he does in the movies !. Aha, he would then proclaim in a most superior, triumphant voice, see, everything depends on your upbringing, blah, blah, blah, not what I did in the movies. Actually, they revealed, they8217;re real sweet people. Nothing like the characters they play on screen. Why, they8217;re as law-abiding and god-fearing as the actor next door.

A last nugget: atthe end of the show, the actors were asked to recite a line from one of their films. Whereupon Karishma was all aflutter as if she had developed palpitations. She could not remember even one line, tittered she. Everyone was aghast. But she he-hee-ed and created such a fuss, anyone would think she had been asked to recite the Kamasutra.

These people are entitled to their points of view. Even silly viewpoints. But to sit before the country, with conceited smiles, denying all responsibility for their actions, was not only indefensible, it was gross. At any stage, it would have been appalling; but when men in uniform, who will never earn anything near what these actors do, are taking their responsibilities seriously, the nonchalant, uncaring, dismissive attitude of these actors was horrid. The episode was of course recorded much before Kargil. Remind us never to watch their films again. The unexpected appearance of Mushahid Hussain on Hard Talk BBC stirred many patriotic hearts and TimSebastian was suddenly a jolly good fellow. Some viewers were so pleased by his aggressive questioning of the Pakistani minister, they wanted to offer him Indian citizenship. But let8217;s remember: publicity, any publicity is good publicity. Hussain got the opportunity to explain his government8217;s position, whether it was liked, questioned or not. And half an hour to do it in. Question for the government and BBC: will we see an Indian minister doing the same?