I want to see the film. I saw the trailers and sensed that I was watching a very mature performance from Sharrukh Khan. I sensed that after Monsoon Wedding this may be another film that actually crosses over internationally. But I want to see the film and I cannot.
The political chess game that the film has got embroiled into is so unfortunate. I watched for a while last night as the melodrama was being played out on one TV channel after another, and I wondered. How far is a frenetic Media responsible for forcing people to take stands publicly to a point where the threat of violence looms large over the common people ?
Don’t get me wrong. I would rather have frenetic, melodramatic, TRP driven Media than no Media at all. Those of us that remember how our Media completely capitulated under the Emergency declared by Indira Gandhi, leading to a nation driven by whispered rumors and fears of saying the wrong thing at the wrong place, learned to respect the value of free Media as the bedrock of Democracy. But free Media is ‘free’ to do what ?
I watched last night as responsible ( i thought) presenters tried to out shout the screaming participants, completely subverting the real or potential issues. Should the Media become the ‘moral police’ of the country themselves ? While I, and most of the country will support Mr khan on this issue , I am afraid of a Media that garners huge TRP’s and then present themselves as the Moral police without a commitment to anything but their own market capitalization.
I know that political parties, and in this case the Shiv Sena (though the others are playing their own game) play the Media for their own political purpose. But why is the Media becoming a willing participant and a player in that game ?
I asked my driver, who is Maharashtrian and a once active member of the Shiv Sena what he thought of the whole issue as he watched the drama being unfolded, glued to the TV. His answer ?
“It’s all about jobs, Sir. There are so many people without Jobs in the slums of Mumbai that this is bound to happen” Simple.
To 90% of Mumbai’s population that cannot afford to go to a Multiplex in any case, the real issue is not whether Rahul Gandhi’s traveling a suburban train in Mumbai was pre-planned or not, nor whether the film releases today or not. The real issue is still ‘Roti, Kapada aur Makaan’.
You mean doing danga and vandalism is a JOB the Shive Sena offers the slum dwellers? They are nothing but goonda’s
Shahrukh is paying the price for being too rich and too successful and having the guts to speak his mind in bridging the Muslim divide
@prerna: what price are you talking about??i think it’s a marketing strategy!! you know once they start screening it, people will start coming in hordes!!
Three men(OSO/IPL/MNIK) or one man – Mr. Right?
I still have doubt that Human is the most intelligent specie.
I read somewhere that if Human race extincts there would be no imbalance in nature but if a Rat extincts there would be.
people like prerna are in majority who talk with passion and not by analysing the subject..the indian media sucks big time..
personaly i don’t watch any main stream films because it’s utter stupid work..and infact about 90% of films that are made falls in that category.
I only watch film makers films.,.Aamir Khan, Vishal Bhardwaj, Viddu Vinod Chopra, Ram Gopal Verma,etc. I think Vishal Bhardwaj is the best among them all..
Ya the media is always looking for a psykick to cling on..SRK is there favorite then is Sachin Tendulkar, then Rahul Gandhi, etc.
Electronic media sucks !!
I hope you mean “Roti, Kapada ‘aur’ Makaan” 🙂
Yes it is “Roti Kapra aur makan”. that is the fact and this has been going on for so long. They have opposed the valentine’s day when it got started.. they have opposed the speaking of English language in schools… the naming of Mumbai from Bombay.. I mean the list goes on. this is nothing BUT Vandalism in it’s best form ( Name is Politics for intellectuals). In India, go to Bihar, UP and any other place where exploitation is the word of comfort used by people in Metros.. what is mainstream is not rest of the India..This is a problem of infiltration too. Biharis come for work in Delhi, they go to Maharashtra.. people work at Petrol pumps in India from other states…they work hard,live and raise their families. Organisations like Shivsena..should be banned immediately where power lies in the hand of some old stupid insecular folks !! who love to do something rather than nothing constructive.
Anyway… enough said – Fact of the matter is – Media operates the same way.. They are like any other Babu ka company who need something to do.. so who checks all this.. what is the checklist to open a media company and hire stupids who would go anywhere and get something on a camera which is blown away on channels in News !!!
Media, Gundagardi and POlitics – All are working in this Great country – with no culture, values and Integrity.
What is with these people who want SRK to migrate to pakistan for saying my parents are from pakistan and let pakistan cricket team play in India. I have two things to say- 1. please keep sports and politics seperate. 2. My parents are from pakistan and i also want two great cricket teams playing and this has nothing to do with my love for my country , my religion and my family roots)2
these are the signs of growing unrest due the increasing divide between the haves and the have nots.
On one hand, Shahrukh Khan was probably aiming for his popularity in Pakistan by making those remarks. It is a hopeless situation going the “Aman ki asha” route with Pakistan, quite a pseudo-secularist venture. These guys will come to India, make money and harbour the same ol’ Kashmir-“liberation” and anti-Indian sentiments back in Pakistan. SRK should have kept his mouth shut.
On the other hand, the Shiv Sena is no more what they once promised. These buffoons are creating divisions amongst Indians when unity is needed. They supported a tainted thief like Pratibha Patil for presidency just because she was Marathi, and are utterly shallow and disgusting in how they are promoting the cause for the Marathi people.
On the other hand, Marathi people are often looked down upon, and north Indians consider themselves superior to other Indians for some reason. And it is quite true that Mumbai is going beyond max capacity with this unchecked influx, while there is also politics involved in sending these Biharis into Maharasthra.
India does need Gods with many hands.
All said and done, at least someone took a hard stand against SRK’s pseudo-secularist attitude.
And the privatised media in India needs to be dismantled completely. The grip of maya is increasing. They have turned the society into a circus act. We need to go back to the days of Doordarshan and 1/2 hour of news twice a day read by a person who has no identity.
India needs Gods with many hands, I like that brahmsastra ! shekhar
I have not seen the movie and don’t have any intentions to see it either. However, I would like to say that the controversy in discussion clearly reflects how far removed we Indians are from an elevated thinking. The most spiritual land is still divided over religion and inhuman manifesto of gangs like Shiv Sena.
Sometimes the most complex questions have the simplest answers. Your driver has all the right answers. He lives the reality that you and I and the talking heads on TV do not. Your driver needs a raise… for being wise. He does!
And for a garrulous and normaly eloquent man, SRK does get misconstrued a lot na?
very very vvery bad movie
shikar & brahmastra are very much right, totally agree with them
Prerna ji: can u plz xplain the term “bridging the muslim divide”; I have never ever heard of such a thing in my entire lifetime!!!!!
Oh and that DD’s newsreader with no identity is a gem ,bramhastra 🙂
drama drama and onli drama , SS N SRK hd pact to create this mess , so dt the movie gets publicity n SS in return got money from production house. nothing else justifies the whole drama.
Whatever the hoopla around MNIK, it sure is a feel good movie. SRK has given an awesome, restrained performance, unlike his usual hamming.
His hard work is quite evident in the movie and kudos to him for that..
I have to say somewhere down the line it started as a publicity gimmick by SRK but it turned ugly with the political drama that followed it.
You may be interested to read this->
http://paragonist.blogspot.com/2010/02/my-name-is-khan-gimmick-khan.html
leading to a nation driven by whispered rumors and fears of saying the wrong thing at the wrong place.
What irritates me the most, is the cheer-leading that went around for both sides, on the internet and otherwise. Those who support the Sena peddled the same old issues, that can only sound worth listening to, by raising voice or resorting to violence. And those sticking up for SRK were either debating over it or ended up blaming the Sena from back, or inspiring others to buy tickets to SRK’s film as a sign of defiance. This is the major reason why our civil liberties keep getting eroded by the villains of the world. Is is our idea of civil disobedience- buying a movie ticket! Or maybe starting an online forum. Or even better, a tweet or the newly born buzz. Jai Ho!
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there are two kind of people
BAD PEOPLE:Shiv sena is nothing but Bal thackeray.Whatever he think he doesn’t like ,shiv sainiks are bound to do that.Be it valentine day, or sachin’s comment or either that of SRK
GOOD PEOPLE: SRK infact,tried to act as a messenger for india trying to give a hand to people of pakistan for a way towards friendship and nothing else.
And media trying to steal the pie for its personal gain.
But that is all a gift of FREEDOM given to us by the CONSTITUTION OF INDIA. who can say against it
I didnt like the movie…..
Those who believe this drama between Srk and Sena was real are naive. Those who believe the Media is reporting ‘news’- think again! Wake up guys- wake up and smell the ‘real coffee’- not some coffee aroma oils that are mistaken for coffee!
As much as I love Srk I think this entire episode sucked big time!Don’t take the nation for such a royal ride Srk that people cannot distinguish between real and made up.You are so popular and loved because of the people. Grow up and be responsible. Preaching responsibility on twitter is not enuff.