Oscars boycott

We live in strange times. Never in the history of cinema have actors been so vocal on political issues. After Meryl Streep’s poignant speech about Donald Trump at the Golden Globes, Madonna and Ashley Judd’s rants against the US president at the Women’s March, Iranian actress Taraneh Alidoosti who stars in the Oscar-nominated foreign-language film The Salesman, has strongly protested against Donald T’s policy to impose visa restrictions on some Muslim countries. She added that she will boycott this year’s Academy Awards ceremony. Her director, Asghar Farhadi — who won an Oscar for A Separation —has also announced that will not be attending in protest. The situation is getting more and more intense. If this keeps happening, we might see a revolution of sorts brought about by actors’ agitation. Call it wishful thinking. It might happen.

The Rajput attack

It’s shameful. Ace Indian director Sanjay Leela Bhansali is busy shooting a film titled Padmavati. It’s about a mythological Rajput princess who fought Alauddin Khilji. Claiming to be miffed at the portrayal of Padmavati — though nobody has seen the script — a squad of goons called Rajput Karni Sena came to the location of the film on January 28, vandalised its sets and assaulted the filmmaker.

This prompted a strong reaction from the film fraternity (Farhan Akhtar, Vishal Dadlani, Karan Johar, Sonam Kapoor etc) as they immediately took to social media to condemn the attackers and demand punishment for them. It has to be said that a strange trend is being set in India where instead of disagreeing with a film’s content in a civilized manner by discussing it, people have started to physically hurt the artist community. Opting for an intolerant path, if not rectified, will damage the fabric of society, not just the film industry.

The Kim-Kanye conundrum

Ever since reality show superstar Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in Paris, her relationship with her husband, Kanye West, has not been a rosy one. He wasn’t able to show the kind of support she wanted after the incident. Instead the rapper suffered an emotional breakdown.

The latest in their ‘saga’ is that things are getting sourer by the minute. On January 26, Kim K and the rest of the family flew to Costa Rica for a vacation … without Kanye W. Gossip mongers are suggesting that the two will split in the near future which might turn into another fabulous reality show.

Poor father, rich daughters

As an actor Randhir Kapoor has (by his own admission) hardly done anything to feel proud of. His daughters, Karisma and Kareena are, however, two of the most celebrated actresses that India has produced. Hence they’ve worked in more films than their father ever has and earned more money than him.

They’ve become so big now that daddy, on his 70th birthday, said he wants his daughters to ‘adopt’ him so that he can also enjoy the fruits of their wealth. Of course it was all said in jest, but we do know that the girls are smart enough not to fall into that trap, even in a lighter vein.

Nirma, the ‘social-media’ star

Pakistani film actress Nirma oozes with confidence. It’s been a long while since she’s done anything worth commending but she sure knows how to stay relevant. The Lollywood leading lady has said in an interview that she’s received a number of offers from Indian producers to work in their films, and she’s turned all of them down. Why? Her answer: she’d rather be a ‘social media star.’ As far as the ‘social media’ part goes, I understand what she means. But the word ‘star’ is a tad baffling.

Old flames burn the brightest

They may not be a married couple any more, but when it comes to encouraging her former hubby, the lovely Susanne Khan makes sure that she does that in a resounding voice. Hrithik Roshan’s latest film Kaabil is faring reasonably well at the box office. Compared to Raees, however, its collections are nothing to write home about. Sensing the situation Susanne K wholeheartedly participated in the film’s success party thrown by Hrithik R where she interacted with the media. She gave a statement that the action scenes in Kaabil are “poetry in motion”. Hmm … there’s a bit of poetic conceit in your praise Susanne K.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine February 5th, 2017