Wanna watch a movie?
Drug-runners, wife-beaters, pedophiles, gun-toting-coke heads in real lives, but heroes for the masses because of their screen persona! Wait, I left out animal killers and mass-murderers from the list!
Short of screaming from roof tops, our 'esteemed' Bollywood brigade has done everything to proclaim their alliance to the mafia or gangsters or terrorists or whatever it is that people or media want to call them! And we are small-minded enough to still flock to the theaters to watch their movies, clap at their antics, throw our hard-earned money to the same goons who come back and kill our kin! Hey, that's like contributing or having a hand in the murder of our own. Inteeresting!
It’s been common knowledge that most movies are produced by the underworld, but that does not stop the millions who watch them, sometimes not just once, but 5-6 times! Most of the shows that are produced abroad have been financed by these gangsters and they are oversold!
Next time when there is a bomb blast in
posted by Miya @ 7:45 AM
19 Comments:
Very true. Sad state of affairs.
Could understand now, the strong reasons for Gandhi's boycott-of-enemy-produced-goods/services campaign.
My landlord is a pangali.[our neighbouring country to the west]. And i am uncomfortable, thinking the rent i pay might be siphoned off to kill my brethern in namba ooru. :(
I guess this kind of state of affairs is inevitable unless the bollywood people realize what they are doing is wrong. This is like saying 'don't eat a veggie in McD's cause the money goes in killing a chicken'. What I guess is needed is a constructive approach, an apporach which helps in character building. I think we should address more fundemental things.
TRUE....But the world goes on !!
I think the observation in the blog is analogous to the following statement:
"The indian middle class epitomises a criminal, bride burning, female infanticide pathetic excuse of a society."
Would this statement be entirely true? Surely, there would a large number of cases, that might support this argument, but on the whole we would agree that this statement is not true.
I think a similar argument also applies to the motion picture industry operating out of Bombay.
The argument made by "good boy" is one of the most ridiculous arguments I have seen.
By paying money to watch a movie produced by the underworld, you are knowingly contributing to terrorism directed against your fellow countrymen.
How is this in any way similar or related to bride-burning and female infanticide?
And to "adengappa": Yes the world goes on, except for those who were killed by the terrorists whom movie-goers and fans are actively supporting.
I'm amazed that no one seems to consider boycotting the terrorist-sponsored bollywood industry as a possible action to take. Are people so not willing up to give-up their cheap thrills that they would gladly support those who kill their fellow citizens?
For the record, I don't watch any bollywood movies, usually even if its free.
Dear Anonymous Dude,
You missed the point.
Just because there are many cases of movies being funded by the criminal underworld, doesn't mean the entire
industry is one big front of the criminal underworld.
This is quite similar to the fact that, indian middle class is not all those things, even though there are alarming
number of such cases.
Is that so difficult to infer?
There are professional production houses like YashRaj films, Mukta arts, Pritish Nandy etc.. that file taxes.
If you think that these production houses go to the mob for funding, then you are wrong.
The film industry operating out of Bombay, supports a lot of families and is the source of income for a lot small businesses, in the form of equipment suppliers etc. This industry also happens to a be one of the least suppported industry (in terms of support from the govt.)
A lot needs to be done, but that lot is not certainly blindly calling it "the terrorist-sponsored bollywood industry".
Crime is a part of every society. Who doesnt know about Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegal and his infamous association with Hollywood.
During the current times, given the geopolitical situation of India, some organized criminal networks that started their operations in India have formed a nexus with international terrorist groups (ISI/Al Q). Also, the network that these
networks have in their country of origin (India) still exist and are functional.
Due to this network, it becomes very easy for us target a certain section of the population. While being cautions is very correct, being fanatic is not.
Your approach to dealing this situtation sounds similar to the Reagan administration's drug war.
Make a lot of noise,(in india, that will generate more hatred among the masses) while channels of the criminal mafia are mostly intact.
PS: You actually get a chance to see movies free of cost?!! man you are good at making friends. I hope I can learn that from you.
Also, there are thousands of death due to religion, templesm churches, etc. do you stop praying? blaming an industry because of the corrupted few(uhh..ok. many) is not fair. The solution is not Boycotting, but proper lawful trial and punishment. Cinema is not the root cause of our evils, there are many other pressing needs to be addressed.
Civic sense, education, healthcare, corruption etc.
Dear Anonymous Dude,
Dear MCP "Good Boy",
Since you seem to have so much inside knowledge about the bollywood film industry, I presume you or perhaps your family members work in that industry...
Talk to the real knowledgeable sources and you will know the extent of underworld funding for bollywood films. Its not as minimal as you think. Yes there are those who are not involved with the underworld, (although I wasn't aware that Pritish Nandy is a production house - isn't he a journalist?), but in purely monetary terms, the influence of the underworld is staggering. See, the dons have very little to lose but a lot to gain. Film producers, if they don't toe the line of the underworld, have a lot to lose. Most usually take the easy (for them) way out.
Crime is a part of every society.
So, I suppose we should grin and bear it and not do anything about it. Nice argument! Let me hear you spout this logic when that crime directly affects you, although I hope you don't have to go through it to change your mind.
Who doesnt know about Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegal and his infamous association with Hollywood.
I don't and I simply don't care what happens in Hollywood. I'm interested in what is happening in my country.
Due to this network, it becomes very easy for us target a certain section of the population.
Aha! The standard "secularist" logic. Alleged criminal can't be a criminal since he belongs to a certain "minority" community and the allegations are merely fabrications of the "Hindoo fundamentalists". Why do you have to bring in religion into everything? For the record, I believe that Sanjay Dutt is also linked to the underworld and I propose the same treatment for him as I do for Salman Khan or for any one else who has links to terrorists.
PS: You actually get a chance to see movies free of cost?!! man you are good at making friends. I hope I can learn that from you.
I maybe good at making friends, which presumably you are not, but you don't need friends to be able to watch movies for free. Ever heard of television?
Here is an analogy for you to chew on (no pun intended):
There is a drug peddler who runs a paan shop. Of the income he makes from the paan shop about half is used for his basic needs like food, clothing and shelter. The other half is used for drug peddling.
According to your logic, it is possible that the money you spend at the paan shop is used for the legal half - (food, clothing, shelter). So you have no problems doing business at his shop.
According to my logic, if his overall income is reduced he will end up spending a bigger portion of his income on his basic needs and eventually may give up drug peddling since he simply does not have money to spend on that.
So I advocate boycotting his shop.
Yes it doesn't translate directly to the Mafia-Bollywood story but if people stop paying money to watch mafia-funded films, we will start seeing less and less of such films. After all the mafia is doing this not to get a tax-break (which several film producers do) but to make money. If they can't make money they will start looking at other means of making money.
Also, there are thousands of death due to religion, templesm churches, etc. do you stop praying?
How is praying at a temple or a church contributing to those deaths? Yes, if you think an organization that you are supporting is engaged in criminal activity, by all means stop supporting that organization.
blaming an industry because of the corrupted few(uhh..ok. many) is not fair.
I have no interest in apportioning blame. I am more interested in stemming the flow of money to the mafia. Whether the entire industry is to blame or not is irrelevant. If you have reasonable cause to believe that your money could eventually end up in the hands of terrorists, you should stop spending money on that activity. Simple.
Of course there are some who would claim that those folks are not really terrorists but are simply alienated citizens of society and they have legitimate grievances and because of that they have legitimate reasons to kill innocent people. If you are one of those, please ignore these comments.
The solution is not Boycotting, but proper lawful trial and punishment.
Lawful trial and punishment? Surely you are joking, Mr./Ms. Anonymous!
Dealing with the legal and judicial aspects of these things is for the government to do. If the government is derelict in its duty, by all means do what you think is necessary. But that is no reason to stop doing what you need to do as a responsibly citizen of society.
Here's an analogy: If you see someone being attacked in the middle of the road in front of you, and if you are in a position to actually help right then and there, do you help or do you just stand back and watch because its really the responsibility of the government to do something about it? Now picture the same scenario, except that you are the person being attacked. What would be your opinion of those simply standing by and not helping because they are also using the same logic as yours?
Cinema is not the root cause of our evils, there are many other pressing needs to be addressed.
Civic sense, education, healthcare, corruption etc.
I completely agree! Thats why I am saying spend your hard-earned money on those things - education, healthcare, etc. - instead of on movies, where there is a more than 50% chance that your money will end up in the pockets of the mafia and will be used to kill innocent fellow-citizens.
do we have it in us to identify such films and boycott them?
Well, you can take my approach - a blanket boycott.
Or for those who simply can't give up their 3 hours of entertainment, pick and choose what movies you watch.
In some cases it is fairly straightforward - we all know that there are those who are linked to the mafia (Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan). So boycott their films. If one of your favorite actors/actresses is a co-star in that film, so what? Entertainment is not a need but merely a want - one can do without it.
And if enough people boycott, maybe your favorite star will stop acting in movies with the criminals. If they are not criminals themselves, that is.
And this need not just be restricted to underworld links. To give an example, if you think smoking is a social evil, you can boycott movies which portray smoking in a positive light (or don't portray smoking in a negative light). Or you can boycott stars who are in a position to do something about the problem but are simply not willing to do so and may in fact be aggravating that problem.
wow...!!! :-)
such amazing analytical reasoning. I am overwhelmed by your capacity to draw inferences. You should be governing this country, you would fit right in.
Your paan shop logic was nice and it works sometimes too.
However, in any supply and demand based system, we need to address both the supply side and the demand side. (plesae feel to understand and dissect this statement in any manner you see fit).
If you have some doubts about certain information please google for it.
Dear MCP "good boy",
wow...!!! :-)
such amazing analytical reasoning.
Well, its clear now why you are not able to make friends!
Your dripping sarcasm notwithstanding, you haven't really addressed the issue here. Thanks for the advice on using google search. Perhaps you should use that a little bit so you can educate yourself on what supply and demand means and if and how it applies to the subject of this discussion. Of course that is probably expecting too much out of you...
Anonymous,
Boycotting, protesting are all fine, but that's not a long term solution. It is true that more we raise the voice, more likely that it will generate hatred among the masses. Having a principle of not watching a bollywood movie is fine, but expecting others to do it is wrong. Lets try to solve the problem more consructively.
:-) well,
Yes I did read up a little on the supply/demand thing.
From what I understood from your comment, if we stop going to the paan shop, we crub supply, that should also effect the demand.
This is exactly, what the Reagan admin did. Nancy Reagan's "Say no to drugs" campgain was about that.
But, then the cartel, operating out of Columbia, Afganistan etc were not dealt with much.
It seems that( according to economic theory) a steady supply of goods, can actaully fuel demand.
Now, this applies very well to drugs, because, drugs are adictive. (and it seems it also applies to other stuff)
Can it be true with movies too?
Maybe not as big as drugs, but with doubtful origins, all the flashy glamour, and a little bit of corruption, many things can be achieved.
(in a consumeristic capitalistic economy, you can sell pretty much anything)
Your approach, to the problem, is one way, but I am not sure if it will work. What you are counting on is a huge populace to rally behind your idea (a nobel one at that....).
But, this is not that Kargil war. What I think will work, is systematic elimination of the social network that works along this business...
When I said that crime is a part of ever society, I didnt mean that we dont do anything abt it. We have to deal with in a manner that causes least damage.. (it will cause damage... I know that.. but we must minimize it)
The Republic Of India, is a young nation. I dont think I follow, the seemingly secular or supposedly hindu-fanatic etc.. bangwagon. I have no illusions about my country. Like everybody else, I have read a little history and I have come to know of enough examples that can messup the place. We dont have a bloddy history like europe yet.
Of the work I do, or the profession that my family has been part of since two generations, is of little significance to the current discussion.
Hell, there are corp commanders who havnt seen a single day of action, and there are Lt. Cols sent home bcos they don't launder money in the east. Like I said, I have no illusions about my country. (i am sure neither do you).
If a person can earn a stright living, he makes it to the boat.
you might agree with most of what I said in this comment. And I do understand your point, and the point made by the good author of this blog.
But, we have a difference of opinion.
And, yes I am a damn sarcastic peron, that is me.... but I mean no disrepect to you. I any of my comments made you fell that, then I am sorry...
And.. I still think your approach is to compicated. It sounds a soviet propaganda slogan. (sorry again.. if I didnt sound right).
sorry, abt all the typos, I am overwhelmed with kernel 2.6 src code.
-
May the source be with GNU.
btw, if you actually google around for info on the drug war stuff, you might easily find web pages that say the line of thought I presented here (abt the war) is wrong. But then I can go get some page that supports what I say.
But the point I am trying to make is, the about a more complicated supply/demand relationship (or atleast a possibility of one).
In any case I am pretty much done here....
Anonymous Crusader (confused as dude),
if ( !angry || angry ) {
panic() {
Representative of the wronged, maimed and the murdered carry on your cursade,
and make all those "jumping to conlusion type" satements for the love of
the motherland, for misinformation is simply a means to mass acceptance.
May the sleeping nation raise to your call and may you transform the whole
landscape some day.
}
}
MCP "good boy".
From your comment:
"I hope you don't have to go through it."
Thank you. May life be good to you.
Ashok K Banker's Beautiful Ugly (non-'bollywood' .. Indian)...
It's distribution would not be like a commercial movie.
http://web.mid-day.com/news/city/2005/june/111647.htm
I also heard its going to be more on the lines the free software/open-source model.
(free to copy/redistribute downloadable from the Internet etc... )
Link in html href.. (for the buggy css browsers..)
Beautiful Ugly
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