Devotion, Obsession and Hypocrisy

In spite of all its loopholes and ambiguities, we Indians by and large have a strong belief in our judicial system. Often in times of distress, controversies or administrative inefficiency, it is the judiciary that provides us respite and comes up with a solution in the interest of the nation, thereby monitoring the other organs of the democracy and truly justifying the faith which the citizens of this country show in the law.

One of the most talked about and anticipated verdict coming from our courts in the recent times has been that on superstar Salman Khan. So Salman ‘Bhai’- as his fans call him, after a long long trial of 20 years has finally been convicted in the Black Buck hunting case of 1998 and has been sentenced to a five year imprisonment. As has been the case with our country, in a case that took a couple of decades for the verdict, the convict ironically took hardly 48 hours to get a bail. Anyways, these are legal procedures and although they often surprise me, honestly I can’t write about them with my school level knowledge of political science.

My concern here is neither about the pathetic progress rates of trials in our courtrooms nor about the ‘faster than 4G’ bail which Salman Khan managed to get. A lot has already been said and read about it and would be continued in times to come. Since the issue is colossal, it would require a heavy course correction.

What however disturbed me the most in this entire episode was the reaction of the people (read Salman fans) to the judgement. We know that Salman is arguably the biggest movie star of India and enjoys a massive fan following across the globe. Obviously, fans could not digest the fact that their beloved ‘Bhaijaan’ would be behind the bars. How could he ever be wrong, he is our Salman afterall!

There is a fine but well defined line between fan following and obsession. Unfortunately, Indian public often fails to draw a distinction between the two. This is not merely confined to Bollywood but cuts across other fields like Politics, Sports, Arts and so on. It is good to love someone and to acknowledge and appreciate his work. But it is very important to keep in mind that all the celebrities are after all human beings, and humans can commit mistakes, or even crimes.

 Placing them at the position of divinity and giving them a status of Demi Gods is absolutely foolish. The way I could see Salman’s fans shedding tears over his conviction and later celebrating over his bail goes on to show the logical lacuna in our mindset. The law took its course and punished the guilty. This is exactly what is expected of them although it has really been slow in this case. Crying and expressing grief made no sense at all here. Law is after all equal for every citizen and the decision of the court should be accepted with humility, even if the person at the receiving end is a superstar.  

The public is innocent and often moves with the flow. They show unwavering support and love for their heroes and stand resolutely behind them. Understood. While the reaction of the public in general was saddening, the reaction of our so called ‘intellectual and articulate’ Bollywood stars was disgusting. That entire day, I could see various celebrities reacting sadly to the verdict, and I came to know why Bollywood is called such an opportunistic place.

Some of our favorite stars said they were in support of Salman and I am still not able to believe they actually went on record to say that. Salman, as the court has asserted, killed the Black Buck and there is now perhaps no doubt in it. We look up to you people as our role models and your showing support for the perpetrator of killing a protected animal is so not cool Bollywood!

While the support in itself was nauseating, the logics that were extended were further repulsive and irrational. Some felt that Salman deserved mercy for his humanitarian activities while some were of the opinion that Salman was not the only one involved and was unnecessarily being targeted. But the funniest of all logics coming from the B-Town, according to me, was that since 20 years have passed by there is now no point of the decision and the guilty should be set free. Or perhaps this one- Salman should not be punished as there is a lot of money that is at stake due to his ongoing movie projects. 

Without naming any one celeb, I can just say that on the whole, I was really taken aback to see Bollywood’s lack of compassion and concern. It is great to stand for somebody from your fraternity, but it is more important to stand for what is right. Unfortunately this is something that really lacks in our celebrities. They did not show support for the industry but indirectly disregarded the judicial system of our country- the country that has made them the superstars that they are today. This attitude shows the dark side of the power and influence game of Bollywood. All I could see coming out from Mumbai that day was sycophancy.      

 I have nothing personal against Salman or any celebrity for that matter. In fact, I have really liked many of Salman’s films over the years. But they were on screen performances. In real life, you need to pay back for all the wrong that you do. This is how the judiciary works for everyone. This is how the world operates. By holding an Indian passport, Salman, like every Indian citizen is subservient to the law of the country and needs to show utmost respect for it. And for the public and the B-town, you folks have already created enough drama which was not even needed over this issue. Now let the law take its proper course and you all sit back and try to think rationally so as to support better causes next time around….