We love our Bollywood superstars, but we love to hate them even more. The news about Shah Rukh Khan being booked for ‘rioting’ and ‘damaging railway property’ during the promotion of Raees, simply by taking the August Kranti Rajdhani from Mumbai to New Delhi, made me think about the price that a superstar has to pay for his hard earned fame.
Shah Rukh has repeatedly said that his fans have the right to say whatever they wish to him. But that must be exhausting at an emotional level.
A case has been registered against the Raees actor by the Government Railway Police, on the plea of Vikram Singh, a vendor at the Kota (Rajasthan) railway station, who suffered injuries and damages when the crowd went berserk as king Khan emerged from his coach. But, is that something you can blame SRK for?
While Singh’s loss and bruises are unfortunate, can the law hold SRK responsible for the massive turnout, or for the lack of adequate security arrangements, so much so that it makes him a criminal?
Is there a petty troll within each one of us? Do we get a sense of power from bruising the stars we’re crazy about? There’s more to this kind of slamming, because SRK is not the only star who has been trashed in our Bollywood crazy country.
Aamir Khan
Who can stand a snooty celeb? But when Aamir Khan steps down and becomes a normal married man, having a conversation with his wife about moving abroad, because the intolerance around them makes them worry about their kids, we lash out. We abuse him, laugh at him for being a joru ka ghulam and even accuse him of being anti-national.
Aamir had crossed the line and had to be punished. But by the time Dangal released, he had gone silent, and we ran to theatres with applause and cheer, to celebrate the man we hated for being anti-national.
Karan Johar
All Karan Johar really did was bring homosexuality into our living rooms as the Unsuitable Boy. But we hate that as much as we love all his romantic flicks. The filmmaker has spoken openly about love, sexuality, relationships and the insecurities he grew up with. But all we care about is our filthy stigma against homosexuals. Karan said in a recent interview that he wakes up to hate and filth on a daily basis, and has learnt to ignore it all and soldier on. But the trolls never give up. Once in a while KJo caves in.
Taimur Ali Khan Pataudi
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor got massively trolled for a decision that couldn’t be more personal. But India made sure they let the celebrity couple know that they’re bad parents for naming their son after Timur, a violent conquerer, who didn’t go down well in our limited knowledge of history. The kind of hate they faced on social media was completely uncalled for, but they didn’t react because they know better.
Sania Mirza
When India’s favourite tennis champ Sania Mirza was attacked on Twitter for marrying Shoaib Malik, a Pakistani cricketer, all hell broke loose. We actually found it in ourselves to question her loyalty- “how can she play for India if she’s married to a Pakistani?” Not only did she go ahead and dunk India at the top as World No.1, she gave it right back to the haters too. But it’s hard to keep up with all the hate, even for her.
These tweets are only a limited reflection of the hate that descends on our celebrities, for reasons that were either no fault of theirs, or simply their personal decisions and opinions. On the one hand, we manage to leave our biases at home when we walk into theatres to enjoy their films.
But on the other, from our convenient hide outs behind the anonymity of social media, we lash out at them day in and day out, till they go silent altogether. A reaction from someone famous, whatever kind that might be, feels like a kick, our blink-and-miss moment of glory. Shah Rukh Khan might be gracious enough to tolerate even the Gaurav Channas of the internet, but this is hardly love.
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