Friday, February 12, 2010

Khan Saheb, you better remain Rahul



Scene one: SRK and Obama

Shah Rukh: "My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist."
Obama: "Yes I know that. Sorry for that airport incident."
SRK: "And my son in the film -- he is not a Muslim, he is actually a Rathore -- is also not a terrorist."
Obama: "I know -- I am sorry for him too.."
SRK: "But all other Muslims excluding my immediate family -- they are probably terrorists. And if they talk of Palestine or Israel, then you can be sure."
Obama: "Mm.."
SRK: "And yes, a terrorist has to be a Muslim, that everyone knows, right?"

* * *

Scene two : SRK and Shiv Sena

SRK: "My name is Khan, and I am not a terrorist."
Shiv Sainiks: "But we are.. and it is people like us who decide who should be called a terrorist. You see, we can even execute a series of riots in a communally sensitive atmosphere and make people remember only the blasts that followed.."

* * *

Scene 3: SRK and audience

SRK: "My name is Khan.."
Audience: "Sorry you better be Rahul. Otherwise we are not going to fill your cinema halls. No matter how much ever a good guy you try to be."

* * *

Scene 4: SRK and me

SRK: "His name is Karan Johar, and he is not a terrorist".
Me: "You want me to believe that, after Kurbaan and MNIK?"

* * *

[Related News: Sena terror prevails; MNIK not to be released in Mumbai
Let those who love Pak-lover SRK watch MNIK: Thackeray]

[Related fact: I went at 6:25 for 6:30 show on the opening day, and got tickets comfortably. The show was not full.]

[Related post: Where does Aamir lead us?]

[.. and a related e-mail]

Anu on Chitralekha

".. I have no wish to debate the details of the case or repeat the rapidly spinning tales around Chitralekha. As I find it deeply offensive and denigrating to all my intersecting identities with Chitralekha - dalit, working woman, wife and mother.

Instead, I would like to use parallel anecdotes from the lives of Ruby Bridges, Savitribai Phule, Barbara McClintock and Chitralehka to frame these questions: How are pioneers perceived? And whom does a pioneer facilitate?"

Anu writes : Chitralekha a perceptual divide. [on Insight round table]