Big B, blogging and the media : The perfect recipe for a messy pot pourri

I will tell you this out straight. No I'm not being racist or prejudiced. But we Indians love to apologize. Me included.


So this is the thing. Big B a.k.a Amitabh Bacchan, the biggest star in India and possibly the most recognized star in the world (hey, we've got a billion people and still counting) likes to blog. If you thought celebrities love to lament the lack of privacy in their lives and scorn at people who intrude, well, welcome to India. Blogging seems to have caught everybody's imagination in India including the movie stars. And there we have a problem.


For the umpteenth time Big B has made a remark on some recent event which has snowballed into a media frenzy. After phase 1, now it is back to Big B expressing shock or disbelief or repentance (or a mix of them) and in most cases, followed by apologies for having been 'misquoted' and 'misunderstood'.


This time it is his remarks on Slumdog Millionaire. He said it wasn't real India. According to B, the poverty and depravity shown in the movie are a false reflection of emerging India. This was right after the first Indian winning a Golden Globe Award, AR Rahman. Man, you got to give him credit for the sheer timing.


Poor thing, the whole industry stood up to beg to differ on the issue. Half a page on news sites were wasted documenting different actors' and directors' reactions. Some were appalled at his ignorance. Some were delighted they were getting interviewed in the first place and had their first chance in months to get media attention. I wish somebody had said 'shut the hell up everybody!'.




(Above a clip from the movie Slumdog M where the BigB crazy kid jumps into a pool of human waste to meet his idol)


Now this is coming right after his Mumbai blasts remarks where he said he felt so insecure that he slept with a gun under his pillow. I thought it was juvenile for somebody to have mentioned that kind of a thing on the eve of such a tragedy. But hey, its his bed. Why care if he left his wisdom tooth for his tooth fairy to pick it up? But boy was he whacked in the media! A week later it was time for some delicious Indian apologizing ... potpourri style.


Then there was the whole tiff with Sharukh Khan, Aamir Khan and a bunch of others. Now mind you, each of these other big actors have their own blogs... and they religiously contribute to the media "gupshup" (our word for babble).


So here we are back again. Two weeks into the new year and Big B has apologized already. Words between actors, their friends, the media and the actors who are friendly with the media... have been hurled at each other. Old rivalries are reborn. New alliances formed. All "WWF This is RAW" style. Those with a higher degree of imagination might say this is not potpourri.. they will say it is a bloody mess.


And all this because instead of publishing your blogs for the family and friends and maybe the dog, you published it for the world to see it. And don't think I didn't realize that .. you couldn't have read this blog had I not published it. So fine, I'm sorry I am being hypocritical .. but hey, whatever man!