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Rakhi chose her groom on live TV. Not sure how this will play out over the next few days. So is this path breaking or a really wrong turn. I come from the days when ‘Choli ke peeche’ was ostracized. Today, getting ones genitals smacked for a wrong answer is totally acceptable. How the views have changed. I wonder what the actual TRP numbers are for these shows. But if Indians find shows like MTV Roadies/MTV Splitsvilla entertaining or even slightly funny than that’s pretty alarming. There is already an undercurrent of disgust at these shows, which leads to the obvious question… should they be banned? I have always been opposed to the idea bans. And if one goes by the popularities that these shows suggest, then surely there are people who enjoy watching these shows. So what’s to be done…
What I want is that these shows be explicitly marked as suitable for mature audiences only [you know that red circle with 18 written in it]. I am not sure if I would want any school going kid to watch these overly dramatized shows drawing on explicit voyeurism and take that to be how majority of the people in this world behave, think. And yes, I don’t believe these reality shows represent the psyche of the common man. These individuals are chosen precisely for their eccentricity and emotional quotient that assures of aggravated responses in ludicrous and disgusting situations. I would want these shows to be moved to a late night slot, with adequate warnings mature content and advising viewer discretions and not just the bleeps and the blurs.

Indian Television has stopped being meaningful. Balika Vaadu, is a serial that in my opinion makes child marriage seems routine. And its acceptability by the masses is shocking. How can you educate the society that child marriage is a crime when the society loves Anandi.

And it’s not that we can’t create entertaining television. We had Antakshari, Filmi Chakkar, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Hum Paanch, Sarabhai v/s Sarabhai. So surely there are writers and directors out there that can create quality. But there has to be someone willing to take a pause, re-evaluate what entertainment should be and then deliver.

The transposition of Bheja Fry from the tattered menu of a sleepy Irani restaurant to your chosen multiplex is no small tale. A (French) inspired tale of an upscale Mumbai socialite bringing along a local idiot for dinner was made at a miserable budget and laughed its way to surplus profits and is still adding to the sum total through DVD sales.

Enough statistics of the movie. I was not overtly impressed by the movie on the whole; it, of course, had its moments with the protagonist Bharat Bhushan (played brilliantly by Vinay Pathak) pulling the movie away from mediocrity.

The movie, largely, talks about a typical Indian middle class citizen being constantly abused, unbeknownst to him, by a rich snobbish socialite via innumerable contorted funny situations. Which led me to think about the typical mould into which the middle class has been cast into, both in media and in society in general. The urban middle class, which by reports, has been constantly burgeoning and being empowered over the last decade is, by far, the most abused caricature or social model that is thriving out there.

Beginning the last decade, the unknown Indian, created ingeniously by Laxman, has been used as an excuse for sympathy and grit time and again by movies and media. Be it socialist movies like Main Azaad Hoon or the media reporting on tragedies, the common man has been the showcased as the model of identity for his only attribute: being common. Till the late nineties, politicos and media used the tag to narrate heart pulling incidences and swell the pride of the common man.

The scenario changed early this century with the boom in disposable income that broadened the spectrum inhabited by the middle class and saw them making their way to malls and multiplexes enjoying their popcorns and plastic money. Again, the media kicked in singing hosannas about the common man and the power he now holds to change the destiny of the country. It is painful to realize how such marketing gimmicks seem to influence sane people into getting classified as the “common” man. If anything, I hate the tag and though I, by broad classification, fall into that category, I would refuse to called “common” by anyone.

The common man, if such a myth exists, is that individual who wants to up himself into the upper crust by munching the Big Mac, forming the bee hive on weekends at your neighbourhood mall and sporting the latest smart phone gadget in the hopes that he be recognized differently. Sadly, however, the common man remains common.. all alone in ever broadening spectrum…

Sometimes.. probably ignorance is bliss..

Lets get a bit nostalgic shall we…

One of the most fascinating medium of expression in my opinion is the vivid world of ads. Watching the latest Bajaj ad film, which uses a new injection of adrenaline in their age old ‘Hamara Bajaj’, was the inspiration for this post.

As a child growing up, I found the ads more entertaining than actual program they sponsored. I guess the medium specializes in making a quick and lasting impact on the human mind. A good ad is one that is watched till the end, and over and over again. Some classics in recent times are the hutch campaign with the pug, the coca cola with Aamir, ‘thanda matlab coca cola’.

For this blog I have decided to compile a list of some of my favorites

1. Bajaj Tubelights
Jab main chhota baccha tha, Bahut shararat karta tha
Meri chori pakdi jaati… Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj.
Ab main bilkul buddha hoon Goli khake jeeta hoon
Phir bhi chori pakdi jaati… Kyun ki roshni deta Bajaj.

2. Kuch baat hai : Cadbury Link

3. The original “Hamara Bajaj” ad Link

4. Aishwarya for the campaign to donate eyes

5. Aamir, Aishwarya in the Pepsi Ad
“Hi, I’m Sanjana. Got another Pepsi?”

6. Rasna, I love you Rasna

7. Dhara oil with the kid Link

8. Mile Sur Mera Tumhara Link

9. Natraj Pencils
Natraj phir champion, bonded lead wali natraj pencil

10. Vicco Turmeric ad Link

If you have any of your favorites then please feel free of add them in your comments, and preferably with a link if to a media file so that we can relive the memories.

In case some of the links do not work then let me know so I can edit the links.