Dear Vikram Bhatt, why take on KRK but not Salman Khan?
Till date, I haven’t been able to decide if I am a supporter of open letters or not. I have myself written two (three, now!), and read many, of course. The latest being the one by Vikram Bhatt to the infamous Kamaal R Khan (KRK).
A sensible piece of writing, an open advice titled “Kamaal R Khan and my imminent mud wrestle”. It makes all the relevant points of taking a standing against the filth.
I, for one, feel that we need to support Bhatt in this fight, but there is a BUT.
His letter targets a self-declared (self-obsessed) celebrity, Kamaal R Khan. KRK’s Twitter account reeks of filth (I don’t follow him but every now and then people do bring up his tweets – sometimes to criticise, and at other times for entertainment), and there is no debating that.
Bhatt suggests we fight (rightfully) against this man. I quote from his note: “We must fight because the people who fight for the deletion of cuss words in our films have no problems with cuss words being used in real life. I don't understand why... We must fight because the ladies in my fraternity are being abused and the various film associations think it is all right. I don't understand why...”
“We must fight because all those who found Salman Khan's one comment on rape distasteful have been quiet about this man for years. I don't understand why...”
Amongst the many whys, I found the last one to be the most interesting.
For, heroes (in the eyes of some) can get away with such comments. (Salman’s comment: He felt like a "raped woman" coming out of his training sessions with actual wrestlers for his soon-to-be-released film Sultan.)
Bollywood’s post-50 heroes feel it is fine to get their ageing fathers to apologise on their behalf. They even joke about it.
(Apparently, speaking at the inauguration of the IIFA celebrations, Salman said, "I will not take much time because nowadays the less I speak the better it is." Obviously, he was hinting at his latest gaffe.)
I am writing to Vikram Bhatt to drive home precisely this point. Is it a joke?
Because Vikram Bhatt, the film fraternity that has been the source of livelihood for your family for many generations, stays quiet and supports such (top-grossing) heroes. I don’t understand why…
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| KRK’s filth is as dirty as Salman Khan’s. |
Because Malaika Arora, on whose behalf too you want to fight the filth, chooses to stay quiet when such heroes, especially the ones in the family, make such remarks.
KRK might have tweeted this for Malaika Arora: "There comes an Item song from an Old lady Malaika Arora Khan who still dances at her best with hotness and curves, it was fun watching this dance."
But you Vikram Bhatt wish to fight for Malaika Arora even though she is hardly perturbed by Salman Khan’s utter and public callousness. I don’t understand why…
Is it just about one comment on rape? Should we take a stand when a handful of them, suitably filthy and outrageous to get social media worked up, has been uttered by someone as heavyweight as Salman?
Should we wait for years? Even termite growth can be controlled if we take an action at an early stage. Why don’t you wish to attack it at the right time? I don’t understand why...
Why would you let filth of one kind spread, and file defamation charges against another? I don’t understand why…
Because you should/could think about writing a letter to Salman Khan too and question him on his one comment on rape.
And while at it, perhaps shoot another letter to Aamir Khan and ask him to express his views on the popular dialogue from his film 3 Idiots where the words “chamatkar” and “balatkar” are swapped, ostensibly for comic effects.
And while you ponder on this suggestion, we will occupy ourselves watching yet another Bollywood antics on shaming and slamming Honey Singh for lewd lyrics, Tanmay Bhat for a distasteful video or KRK for his unacceptable tweets.
For, I feel that there are categories of filth that only Bollywood understands and I don’t: A-grade, B-grade, and C, D, E, too.
Because for me, KRK’s filth is as dirty as Salman Khan’s.
Filth is filth: Be it candy wrappers, orange peels, or empty boxes. Do heroes stink differently, is their stench aromatic? I fail to comprehend. I don’t understand why…
It is alright to feel righteous rage. But if we become biased and selective when it comes to standing up for something, we fail everything.
So Vikram Bhatt, if you wish to stand up against filth of every kind, you have my unconditional support, and I promise to have others on board too.
I shall expect and look forward to your open letter to Salman Khan. And I can only hope that your solicitor, Rizwan Siddiquee, can help us both in this good fight as well.
Bring it on?