Controversies galore!

Amitabh inaugurated a college in Allahabad (his place of birth) on his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan' name AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT! -- why does he not make the college in Mumbai when he is living here!?

One of Konkana' dialogues in her movie 'ake up Sid' had the word Bombay in it as opposed to the new and legally enforced Mumbai AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!! and we were subjected to reels of newsprint about Karan Johar making a beeline to the MNS office.

Shahrukh recently stated that Pakistani cricketers should be allowed to play in the IPL AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!!!

Aamir said that it is the hero/heroine that make a song immortal and not its lyrics as said by Javed Akhtar the great legend AND A CONTROVERSY BROKE OUT!!!

Each of the above controversies happened in Mumbai and are related with film celebrities ... our lives whether we like it or not continue to be filled with fillum star-related lore/gossip/controversies -- as if we don't have any more callings to bother about; and the media and the infamous minority polity make the most of the slightest spark of information that creeps out of the fillum quarters turning it into an uncontrollable flame ... MNS lately seems to lead such brigades of unemployed rowdy youth who break lose on the city. Why does MNS' agenda for his beloved marathi manus go for a toss when their people cause destruction and the state loses money by delaying releases of films, holding creative juices at ransom and/or eroding GDP of the state? Conveniently targets of most of the controversies are film stars so that there is more hype and attraction to the so called infamous cause of the political entity ... SIGH ... rise above this sham my brethren!

Amitabh did something very gracious -- he named the college after Ash and not his own daughter Shweta ... instead of respecting Jaya and his sentiment of giving so much honor to Ash and also supporting womens education the polity of our state had the gall to say things against him and blow the goodness out of the window.

Why cant Bombay be called Bombay without feeling that some Shiv Sainik or MNS activist will hurl a stone in your direction!?? Isn't this a free country and wasn't this city called Bombay at one time ... Bombay Blues continues to exist as a brand where I am sure even the marathi manus have also grabbed a bite - how come no plans to shut it down!? Are they going to break all the records or cassettes of the song 'ai dil hai mushkil jeena yahan ... yeh hai Bombay meri jaan, should we rename the movie Bombay to Goa as Mumbai to Goa!?? Why make us live in fear of being assaulted because we are brought up saying the word Bombay and that Mumbai doesnt come to our lips as easily!? Why did Karan have to make a mockery of himself and go and apologise to Raj Thackeray!???

I really believe that SRK has the right to express himself about wanting the Pakistani players to play in the IPL - after all why blame the sportsmen of the country!? And why target him when the Times of India is continuing a huge campaign called 'Aman ki Asha' which is endeavoring to unite the two nations? Why isn't any activist bringing down the TOI shutters yet!?

The most recent one on Amir and Javed Akhtar was thankfully not started by the polity but by the stars themselves and the media - radio, TV and print of course lost no effort in blowing the words of both these legends out of proportion. In my humble opinion neither Amir nor Javed are right and these are the reasons why:

- A song becomes a song only once it is sung to music without which it is poetry and hence it is the music that brings life to the poem ... which unfortunately does not draw too great an attraction from the masses... but when the same poem is sung along with music you can hear it blaring from the smallest of hutments to the wedding parties of the elite; from the swanky new BEST AC buses and the sexiest Porsche that has hit the streets and to cabs and the jhankar beat versions in autos ... it is the music that makes the song popular ... Javed please take note!

- Most music albums are released way before the release of the film and hence very often you will hear a song playing for months on the radio and the best ones are played several times a day making them all but mantras of the masses ... there is no star involved at this stage ... the association of the star in fact happens only after you have seen the film and if he/she is a star of your fantasy you fantasize yourself as a part of the song. In fact, so many old age numbers that one has never ever seen on screen are still remembered and sung very animatedly in the ever favorite party game 'Antakshari' and even otherwise bring an association of happiness or sadness in our lives ... Aamir take note ... these songs of yesteryear have nothing to do with the stars that they were filmed on... and yet I am sure that they come to your lips too as you go about your life... just as they do to mine!