Average looking,barely talented nobodies make hay with shame selling as much as fame Andy Warhol famously predicted in 1968 that in the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes. His prescient observation rings true even 44 years later,when,thanks to the electronic and print media,we have freshly minted celebrities invading our consciousness daily. These days it has become virtually impossible to open a newspaper or surf the internet and not be confronted by some publicity hungry desperado anxious to be in the limelight. Sex sells. And how. Average looking,barely talented nobodies,who had little chance of making it as successful models and actors,have catapulted to fame thanks to their willingness to bare their bodies while shooting their mouths off. As a nation we have gaped in consternation as Rakhi Sawant,Malika Sherawat,Sherlyn Chopra,Veena Malik,Poonam Pandey and a gaggle of other brazen bimbos have become bona fide celebrities overnight. We may snigger and snipe at their shenanigans but it is these gutsy gals who have forged a career and a name for themselves by flaunting their surgically enhanced assets in our faces with impunity. These squawking starlets may represent the dregs of the wannabe somebodies but a slew of Bollywood actresses have also gone under the scalpel to augment their breasts and other parts of their anatomy. The only difference is that they don't shout from the rooftops in order to get noticed. Instead,they hire a PR firm to do the dirty work for them. Some make news by featuring on the cover of fashion magazines and others grab attention by baring it all in glossies like Playboy. Whilst Sherlyn Chopra scandalises India by releasing pictures of herself frolicking in the nude,Sunny Leone,a full-fledged adult film actress,makes her Bollywood debut in a Mahesh Bhatt production. In both cases,a blatant show of jism ensures eyeballs. And thus,a star is porn. Saif Ali Khan made national headlines by announcing he was doing a film with Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman. But when her people refuted this and demanded clarification,a sheepish Saif had to backtrack and admitted he was only joking. Last Fashion Week,a young,troubled actor stripped off his shirt and preened for photographers topless so that he could make it to the papers the next day. Recently,Vivek Oberoi and Malika Sherawat paraded before the media in a T-shirt that proclaimed Screwed,which may very well portend the box-office fate of their film. Taking their cue from Bollywood,ordinary citizens increasingly hanker for their own moment under the spotlight. Take the case of Madhura Nagendra,the dancer from Bangalore who cheekily marched with the Indian Olympic contingent and waved to the cameras trumpeting her brazen arrival as another wannabe celebrity. I will not be surprised if she soon appears as a participant in a reality show on Indian television. The message the media seems to be sending is that to acquire fame you don't need to showcase any talent. All you require is a willingness to bask in fifteen minutes of shame. samarofdiscontent@gmail.com
