Livinghigh: Rang De Narmada
Monday, April 17, 2006
Livinghigh was here at 3:33 PM /



Rang De Narmada

Sometimes, I think the media is biased, and then I think otherwise. The other day, Aamir Khan decided to renew his ties with Rang de Basanti, and sat in a dharna to campaign for the rehabilitation of those displaced due to the Narmada dam. Eyebrows were raised: another film maker politicking? TV and newspapers went overboard: on Sunday, four huge OB vans were parked in front of his residence at Pali Hill for a soundbyte on how he thinks, the people who disrupted screenings of RdB in Gujarat as a retaliation are "lumpen thugs".

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But if you thought that the media was all soft and only wanted to show Aamir as the chocolate boy hero who's fighting for a good cause, think again. The very next day, after Aamir's dharna, while pictures of him sitting grimly near Parliament adorned the front pages, there were full length advertorials from notable industrialists and Gujarat politicians, supporting the Narmada project. The Ambani brothers, Birla, Mahindra, Essar, the who-have-you's opf business, with the leaders in Gandhi caps, sharing space despite the Congress-BJP divide. Much lambasting the Maharashtra CM for wanting the dam work to be halted.

Comical, at some levels, actually.

And then there was Ms High-and-Mighty Goddess-of-No-Things, Arundhati Roy, who proclaims that chocolate boy heroes who are brand ambassadors for Coca Cola Inc should not give dharnas for displaced victims, and this spot should be reserved only for unromantic intellectual authors.


10 Comments:

frankly who cares a f**** except
those like me who was praying to the heavens above that they dont split into two and by much prized guest who had alraedy been on ten million channels does our damned interview tooo (with an accent mind you).

By Blogger sarinstyle, at 5:06 PM  

I cant understand why the media in India these days seems to depend so much on sensationalism. Is there public appetite for it?

By Blogger Casablanca, at 7:48 PM  

madsnow - hehehe, o but of course. the accent is VERY important! hehehe.

casablanca - hehehe... lets not even BEGIN to question de appetite, my child. lol. at least, my channel never does. lol.

By Blogger livinghigh, at 9:35 PM  

hey do u know that u blog has been linked ib the www.dnaindia.com website ??/

By Blogger Viewer, at 2:17 AM  

http://www.dnaindia.com/specials/blog06.htm

By Blogger Viewer, at 2:20 AM  

does it really make a difference?

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 2:28 PM  

viewer - hey hey hey! nopes, i didnt know dat at all! hehehe. thanks for pointing dat out. ;-)

ishy - mmmm... lol, from dat question, may i infer dat u really loved RdB? ;-)
PS: love ure conjoint blog. am gonna link to it.

By Blogger livinghigh, at 5:08 PM  

i am presently working on a website and book that showcases CSR. big shots, film stars, business men...all are doing there share. unfortunately, filmstars are often taken less seriously compare to people like miss goody-no-shoes, Arundati roy.

if a filmstar can work his/her magic and gather support for a good cause, how does it really matter?

By Blogger Lil Mizfit, at 12:49 PM  

It is difficult to take Aamir seriously without his trademark big pointy moustache.

I'm surprised he's sitting in a dharna actually. Whatever happened to killing everybody from top down, starting with the Defence Minister. What difference would that make, do you say? Does it have to? :P

Wassup mate?!

jEDI

By Anonymous Anonymous, at 3:25 AM  

media ... politics ... strange isnt it ?

By Blogger AJ ! Serendipity !!!, at 10:37 AM  

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