Deepika Padukone is just a salesgirl. It is #MyChoice to watch 'Piku'

Okay, so this whole #MyChoice is such an overkill with now even dogs joining in the race now. Men, maids, juniors, and girlfriends everyone is talking about their choices. With the whole animal and human kingdom being vocal about their choices, I am pretty nervous here, expressing mine. So people around me are now saying that they will not watch Deepika Padukone's soon-to-be-released flick, Piku. Why? Well, because she has spoken about the choice of women to have sex outside marriage, amongst other things. Will I watch Piku? Yes. Do I like the video? Cosmetically, yes. Do I support the views? Not entirely.

So yes again, will I watch Piku starring Deepika? Yes, for it is a film that I want to watch. And because the latest #VogueEmpower campaign is just a product that Deepika Padukone was paid to sell. She is just a sales girl, a pretty, tall one at that. For going by that logic, Dabangg should have not even been released and Bigg Boss be banned: Both starring a man, who is/was (till his driver woke up recently to confess he was driving the vehicle on that wretched night!) been in news for killing/injuring a couple of men and antelope, and harassed a woman too.

I am not a fan of Deepika Padukone, and not her campaign's supporter either. And there are other women in the campaign too, so I don't think she should in entirety, either get benefit out of the popularity or bear flak for its ridicule. It was her choice to be a part of this campaign, pretty much like it was another media house's "choice" to talk of her twin assets and hers to react to it. Was it before the Finding Fanny release? I can't quite recall.

The simple point being that she is a salesgirl and she is not necessarily washing her hair with that shampoo or chewing that gum, or in this case doing anything, something or everything for the womenfolk. It's her choice. In fact, she reminds me of this saleswoman in the neighbourhood who goes door-to-door selling a detergent powder, because it is her job to do so. So this is how the whole sales pitch works or well not works.

So yes each day, my door bell rings, several times, okay seven times on weekdays and nine on weekends. But it is only on twice such occasions that I know who is at the doorstep: my bai (help) and my presswala (laundry guy). The rest of the times, surprise elements await me. A young woman in a printed kurta paired with kolhapuri slippers forces down a heavy encyclopedia on me, insisting that I need one of the two: pictorial and non-pictorial. The fact that I wear contact lenses and not a pair of black geeky spectacles makes it worse. She questions me on the capitals of the world, the names of younglings for bears and the permutations of solving the Rubik's cube. Once she is confident that she has convinced me of my low intellect she makes me offers: Buy one, get a DVD free. Buy two, get a board game free. And more. I let her play, we both know that there is no sale happening here but I let her make a sales pitch and when she is done I ask her if she knows what is the value of pi… she confesses all she knows of pi is that it had Irrfan Khan in it. I offer her a glass of water and so ends her visit.

But this is just one doorbell, one visitor, one sales pitch. On other occasions, men bearing moon-stained sweat marks under their arms persuade me to buy two rolls of aluminium foil not because I need the silver roll but because it comes with three small sample rolls of cling film. Now these are things that I need so at times I get lured in. There is no expiry date to these products (or is there?) so I don't mind stocking them up, and also I feel bad for these men who have never made paranthas in their life telling me how soft and fluffy it will keep aaloo and paneer paranthas for six-eight hours, and also warm food is indeed the way to my husband's heart. I will not bore you on who are the others who visit me at my doorstep and tell me what all I need to buy, and need to buy it now. But just in case you care, I am ALWAYS in need of plastic storage boxes, a newspaper-magazine subscription combo, and a homegrown brand of hand lotion and yes, also I need to make donations towards old-age home and blind schools.

Now, most of these pitches are made my men and women who are out-of-breath after having walked up three floors of stairs, and don't quite make a pretty picture. I am almost tempted to invite them in to drink a glass of Roohafza and wash their face, later dabbing it with some rose water. Of course combing hair and changing clothes would be a wise idea too, but then one should be reasonable with their demands. The truth is I do nothing, for these men and women, could in fact be there to rob me or murder me, so I have a decent conversation with them through my wire-meshed door and bid them good bye and good luck. And that is how the whole sales business works. Concepts are a hit or a flop.

So as a consumer I was simply surprised (envious), when I was greeted with a "I want hair and skin like her" salesgirl! Deepika didn't ring a door bell. It was #MyChoice to watch her video, to share it, to criticise it or to slam the door on her face. She is the face of this campaign, she is just a salesgirl and I have my sympathies towards her. And that's why I will watch Piku and after watching it if I feel a film centred on "bowel movements" is entertaining I will recommend it to others, if not again I will exercise my choice and talk about it.

Till then, Deepika, the actress, I will keep my date with your movie. And yes, for the salesgirl in you, sorry this sales pitch was not for me. Ring another door, may be?