The fault in our stars

Those we place on pedestals should amplify voices of reason, not lock themselves away when we need them the most to speak out.

I have never had much respect for Bollywood stars, primarily because the industry they belong to has consistently been one of the most embarrassing in the world. The work is often puerile, almost always misogynist, and rarely accommodating of voices that do not belong to an incestuous, tight-knit circle. My antipathy towards these pampered, overpaid folk has increasingly felt justified though, in the face of their conscious unwillingness to engage with what is happening in India.

The women of Bollywood have, as usual, done more than their fair share. Like women everywhere, they continue to rescue our country from a mess made by its underwhelming men alone. Which is why this isn't to say that everyone has capitulated. There are a number of brave people who have been relentlessly on the side of good, using their fundamental right to dissent in order to draw attention to issues that are routinely being swept under government-funded carpets. They know who they are, and the rest of us will remember not just their integrity, but the personal battles they have fought against trolls who have spent all their waking hours trying to vilify them in public.

It's the ones whose names occupy the largest spaces on our billboards that have opted for silence. And this, given the importance, fame and respect they have accrued, is a crime against those who have placed them on those pedestals.

We should routinely evaluate who our idols are, in much the same way we evaluate who our politicians must be at every election. This is important not simply because these are people with the power to influence public opinion, but because their actions also have the ability to make the world around them a better place. This is especially true in a country like ours, where film stars are granted a disproportionate amount of attention over achievers in all other fields.

One must live under a rock to not notice the protests that have been raging across the country for weeks. People from all walks of life have been on the street at odd hours, students have been rounded up and assaulted, social activists have been jailed, and everyone who has a problem with the Indian government's actions has been labelled a traitor. There have been innumerable acts of bravery on display from common people who have neither the influence nor the platform to get their grievances aired. And, in the midst of this ongoing attack against our Constitution, we have some of the biggest film stars in South Asia choosing to mind their own business.

It's interesting to compare our tame celebrities' reaction to the happenings around them with that of their counterparts in the West, who use their fame for genuine change, even at the risk of professional fallouts. Singer Rihanna, for instance, used her popularity on Twitter to reach out to world leaders and get help for victims of Hurricane Maria.

Basketball icon Lebron James chose to speak about continued inequality of the black Americans at a time when taking a stand had financial consequences for athletes. Singer Taylor Swift won a case against a DJ who molested her, and donated the money from the suit to organisations helping sexual assault survivors. Beyoncé started a scholarship for college-going women in America, raised millions for Hurricane Harvey relief efforts and partnered with UNICEF to deliver clean water systems to people in Burundi.

There are a lot more examples, starring famous faces from all spheres, recognising that their privilege could be used for something tangible. Here at home, all we get are endorsements for deodorants and the hijacking of real issues for cynical marketing campaigns. It is a staggering loss of opportunity on a daily basis, given that these are stars, who can get millions of Indians to look up to them and listen, but rarely have anything concrete to say.

The clouds that hover over us will pass at some point, of course, because we can't always be on the brink of fascism. When that happens though, we should consider a reckoning
and take a look at how the people so many of us give our hard-earned money to let us down by failing to stand with us when we needed them the most.

I don't watch anything that comes out of Bollywood because it doesn't offer signs of intelligence. I will continue to avoid the industry because it has proved, yet again, that it doesn't have a spine either.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He tweets @lindsaypereira Send your feedback to mailbag@mid-day.com

The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper

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