Between the year 2000 and 2003, my family and I travelled to Malaysia a few times. We went there to visit my cousins. On both occasions we spent some time in Kuala Lumpur before heading out to some beach town for a couple of days. When we were in KL, it was mandatory that we visit some of the night markets once. One of the few instances in my life when I remember being actually excited to go shopping, which didn’t involve a Gulab Jamun from Bhagatrams as a bribe from my mother.
If you haven’t been, it’s a never ending maze of stalls, which are covered by tarps, selling everything from fake shoes to fake electronics. With the occasional food stall in the middle selling chicken and fries. My cousin would go for the shoes and the basketball jerseys. I’d go for the watches. Look Thatha I bought you a Rolex!
He also had a playstation so we would stop at the stores with the fake CDs blasting music. After seeing us buy some games and music, they’d try and upsell us on movies.
“Come la buy this Dhoom CD la, very good movie”
“No uncle don’t want”
“Super movie la vroom vroom John Abraham very goo-looking buggah I tell you”
“No no”
“Then take Shah Rukh Khan la, he teacher who play violin, very good la”
“…..”
It was only a decade later when I was travelling in Turkey that I realised the Malaysian shopkeeper wasn’t alone in his knowledge of Indian movies. We were a group of Indians walking through the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. Every shopkeeper would gesture to our friends in front to come check out their stuff.
“India my friend? I love India. Shahrukh Khan!”
“Shahrukh Khan is best my friend. Come here my friend”
My friend from Chennai and I, who were a few steps behind, mentally prepared ourselves to reject this advance as we passed the store at which point they smiled at us and went “Hello my friends? Uganda?”
~*~
In the 90s in Bangalore, I hardly thought ahead to a time where I would be travelling to these places. Even less that the frame of reference people would have there for India would always be Shahrukh.
Of the few Hindi movies we’d watch in a theatre, he was there in quite a few of them. There was DDLJ of course, which we saw at the Rex theatre. I liked it even though it was a tad weepy. I came away believing that it was possible for someone to dance in a towel in the rain in London and not die of Hypothermia.
Then there was Yes Boss. We saw that in a single screen theatre near Mysore Bank circle. I loved that one. Not just because of the music but because in the movie, he worked in advertising like my dad. Of course my dad’s job never gave him the perk of getting to slap Aditya Pancholi.
After that of course his career just went into the stratosphere. At least in Bangalore it seemed to be thanks to the Karan Johar movies. Starting with Kuch Kuch Hota Hai. Thanks to cousins who lived in the U.S who had made it a routine to visit and weep through the movie, I saw it way more than is healthy for a developing mind. I still sometimes wake up in a cold sweat with “PETITE A PAAWNA SEETA RAHM” reverberating in my head.
As his star rose, my own interest in him waned. He had become way too successful to play the local boy done good convincingly. But outside of his acting, he always came across as a thoughtful self aware person in his interviews who had a sense of humour. And in the odd movies where he toned down the over acting, he was still pleasant to watch.
Like Swades. I saw the movie on a flight to Spain, while I was living there. The cliche of a one way flight out of India doubling your patriotism is true. Throw in a touching movie with Rahman’s music? Your blood becomes tricoloured. I got off the flight with Deshbhakti surging through my veins and resolved to move back to India to work. Months later I would curse SRK, when I too, as a returned NRI, found myself in a place with no paved roads or drainage…. Sarjapur road.
~*~
Despite my indifferent fan-hood, It took the recent ‘not planned at all just like that chuma simply’ arrest of his son and the predictable media frenzy that is following it, for me to feel sympathy for SRK. The news story that broke featuring a Marathi Rakesh Roshan lookalike and some BJP functionary accompanying the NCB on a raid like it’s a picnic at Lalbagh.
The ongoing media trial like we saw in the spectacle featuring Rhea Chakraborty will predictably be about Whatsapp messages and emojis to conclude guilt.
“SEE HE SENT # IN ONE MESSAGE #ARYANEXPOSED”
It will be highly paid anchors chasing down this nonsense while ignoring the death of privacy and the highly irregular/illegal procedures followed during investigation . It will distract us from knowing about what is happening with farmers getting mowed down by cars belonging to a BJP minister’s convoy or prominent Indians who popped. up in the Pandora papers. Which all begs the question, why is the Union Government so mad at SRK? Did they also watch ‘When Harry Met Sejal’?
Because everything else about SRK ticks the boxes for what Bhakts love.
He’s an outsider who made it big. Not someone from a “Dynasty” or based on “Nepotism” (which is solely reserved for the head of the BCCI). He’s also through his movies mainstreamed and introduced a bunch of patriarchal north Indian bullshit like Karva Chauth to the rest of India. And his son is literally called Aryan.
But I guess I should just roll with the obvious and attribute it to the fact that he’s Muslim and hasn’t bent over backwards to pander to this government. The fact that he hasn’t posed for a selfie alone will over ride his representing India to the world for the last few decades.
An India whose image as a somewhat inclusive place which revered stars, no matter which religion they followed, has been lost forever. We now have cyber warriors who happily abuse a Muslim cricket player after a loss to Pakistan and question his Indianness. This while taking time off from blaming the loss on Virat Kohli’s wife cause she didn’t observe Karva Chauth. All of this madness is mainstream now with the tacit approval of the folks at the centre.
The only silver lining here is that this incident can serve as a teachable moment for my daughter. To prevent disappointment and questioning her own identity due to the warped views of other fans, I will make sure that she is exposed only to stars from liberal countries. Like Canada. Where she can be assured that their liberal values and their protection of minorities, would let her be a fan in peace. Especially of their brightest star…..Akshay Kumar.
P.S If you liked Yes Boss
This is a hilarious take on the sad reality of the current times. Loved it!
"petite..." got me 🤣