In Bollywood, which bites, it’s the latest news. Whether it’s Rakhi Savant’s tantrums on Valentine’s Day or April Fool’s Day, a tattoo on amrit Arora’s buttocks or saif Ali Khana’s arm, Malliki Sherawat’s frank short dresses or Aishwarya’s Jewels, Jodha Rai, news channels and 3 pages, most newspapers devote their work, time and place to Bollywood gossip.
I grew up reading Hindi newspapers such as Amar Ujala, Dainik Jagran and Rajasthan Patrick. There were days when I struggled to read the color issues of these regional newspapers on Sundays. Of the four pages, that is, the whole page of the newspaper, only a quarter was devoted to such gossip, and the remaining three quarters were intended for intellectual or socio-spiritual articles, for stories and series of newcomers or recognized writers, for poetry and children’s section with animated series Chacha Chaudhary, anecdotes, puzzles and many other games. That was enough for my innocent mind. It was the same with TV channels, or rather with channels. Wednesday and Friday Chitrahar and “Sunday Night” were everything we knew about Bollywood. Yes, there were Filmfare and Filmikaliyan, but DD gave us something to talk about all week.
This is where the media and newspapers benefit today. We strive to learn more about the personal lives of celebrities. We want to be like them and to some extent follow them, sometimes blindly. Now we do not talk, we do not share our thoughts and feelings; there is no air to express our desire. It’s just a one-way street. We have made a mess for all the reporting points. We’re just listening. Sure, it’s good practice, but what about expression? But when we hear silly round-the-clock news about Amitabha Bhachan’s superstitious ritual of marrying Aishwarya Rai on a banyan tree to save her son from his Manglyk effect, it’s too hard to digest.
India is a country that is still in its infancy. It’s transition time, and too much happens too soon. There’s Kalahandi and Kolaba. These places differ as light and dark. India can afford it, but Bharat can’t. Bharat still needs Krishi Darshan, fauji bhayon kie, iodine namak, school chalien hum and jahha-bachcha-karan karikram. We need to improve the living conditions of more than half of our population, and for these masses Bollywood is nowhere, even in their distant dreams. They want a normal life, and the Bollywood gossip doesn’t suit them.
The media needs to understand its social responsibility – it’s not just injecting surgery and Bollywood. There are many channels completely dedicated to Bollywood news. So-called news channels should stick to hardcore news. The current trend is an insult to journalism and reporting. Stop it!