JAI HO ??????!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So here we are, guys. Nation of >one billion going gaga over an Oscar(Well, 3 Oscars to be precise).
Now our news channels have something for next 15-20 days to take the people for ride(They are still trying to keep the TRPs up by devoting many hours daily to Mumbai attacks-latest topic of discussion seems to be –whether we should hand over Kasab to Pakistan or not and obvious gratitude is palpable for Pakistani diplomats for letting us keep him!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think our starting position was that we have all our options ,including military options, open and Pakistan should hand over all terrorists responsible for attacks to India. Thanks to our politicians and focussed news channels ,we are obliged to feel obliged that Pakistan are letting us keep Kasab here and have even allowed his trial !!!!!!!!! I don’t think anywhere else in the whole universe can media make fun of collective intelligence of an entire nation so brazenly. Their prime time presentations are so much below standard that I find watching these a direct insult to common men’s intelligence. Between 8 to 12 PM many channels are showing totally irresponsible, violent, sexually explicit and offensive, misleading trash in the name of news and when government tries to say you can’t do that, they all collectively cry foul. Even renowned names can be seen interviewing IRRELEVANT PERSONALITIES repeatedly and regularly. Trivialisation of important events, undue emphasis on non-events, creating news where there is no news and provoking people to behave irresponsibly to get some bytes has become a routine for many .Most common question that a journalist can think of asking a dead persons’ relatives is –How are you feeling? Now how is one expected to answer that!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well I am feeling sort of high after all these interviews or better still just ask the jerk how should one feel?

Coming back to the original topic.A.R.Rahman gets 2 Oscars for Slumdog music. As far as I can understand that says nothing about his genius and our being so ecstatic about it is a bit belittling for this maestro. It is as if had he not got these Oscars ,there would have been some doubts about his creativity, as if Oscars have made him more AR Rahman than he already was. I feel that any awards ,however great their perceived value might be, redeem their own prestige by being bestowed upon people like Rahman and Gulzar. Artists like them do not need all these awards to establish their place in contemporary art history. As to why is this his first Oscar or why did no other Indian get the Oscar or BAFTA for music, direction, sound editing ,etc…etc… is as stupid as asking why any American movie could never figure in the list of Filmfare Awards or Indian National Film Awards. BAFTA is British Academy Of Film and Television Awards and Golden Globe and Academy awards are American awards for predominantly American/English Movies ,so much so that all foreign feature length films are competing for a single award-Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. So how can any Indian or any other non-English national Movie/ personality be awarded an Oscar when Oscars are simply not for them.

Coming back to AR Rahman again, like most Indians I’m also very happy that he got more international recognition ,that he won a big award, (that too with Hindi songs and maintaining his signature style),that a movie with predominantly Indian cast and totally Indian theme could sweep the Oscars. I’m disappointed, not because of how India is portrayed(If such exists ,let such be shown) ,I’m disappointed because what is shown ,might actually be near reality. Let us not belittle the movie, it seems to be an above average presentation (only problem being with the intent and content of the movie), but it got all these awards because it is an English movie, made by English Producer/directors .Had that not been the case, it would not be even short-listed and why should any Indian movie be short-listed for predominantly American/British awards, whatever the intrinsic qualities of the movie might be. After all, we do not nominate Saving Private Ryan or Schindler’s List for our national awards just because these are very good movies. We do not get Oscars simply because Oscars are not meant for us exactly the same way as our awards are not meant for Foreign language movies. Media creates unnecessary and ill-informed hype and most of the times most of us are carried away.Rahman’s music is definitely beyond all the awards and though Jai Ho is a very good song with beautiful lyrics by Gulzar Sahib and equally soulful rendition by Sukhwinder, getting all these awards does not make it Rahman’s best. In fact his slower compositions(Masakkali,Gendaphool,Kahna hi kya,Chhoti si asha,Bin tere kya jina etc…etc..the list is endless) and songs with Sufi touch (Khwaja mere Khwaja,Maula)and semi prose(Dil Se re,Ma Tujhe Salam)are much better though they carry the same force and energy levels(and this is typical of him –slow songs with boundless energy and such enriching soulfulness that you become mesmerised by the overall effect).So, these awards are a welcome tribute to theses great artists but even before these awards they have given us many and much better masterpieces and let us not forget that these awards have only re-established the greatness of these artists and in doing so have re-emphasized their own value also. Because, awards or no awards Rahman and Gulzar will remain what they are and Sukhwinder will sing just as soulfully and anyways I do not think that European/British/American populations can ever be able to understand the meaning of Mora Gora Ang le le or Phir se aiyo Badra Bidesi or Chhoti si akhani se,wadiyon ke pani se. This mysticism is beyond them. So let them be happy with their Pretty woman and enjoy Masakkali and Sasural Gendaphool.
So much for the Oscars ,Indian media(specially news channels),AR Rahman and all.
Regards to all.