Talent beckons Talent. Celebrity complements Celebrity. Genius attracts Genius. Artist respects Artist. And that is the hallmark of an evolved social order.
Indian cinema has music as its backbone. We rely on songs and dances to cure our boredom, take our worries away and provide entertainment in its multifaceted form. We seldom treat movies and music as separate entities. Many superstars have had great music spurt their careers - many blockbuster movies were deemed so because of the chartbusters in them.
This is not a fulsome piece on the nexus of movies and music in Indian cinema, rather a focus on the unsavoury controversy involving the reigning superstar of Hindi cinema,Salman Khan and an immensely talented and popular singer Arijit Singh. The latter's very public and heartful apology to the movie star, on a highly speculated incident, is doing the rounds of gossip galleries. Public reactions are varied and divided, as they usually are in high profile cases involving celebrities.
Apparently, the incident took place years ago when Arijit Singh arrived sleepy and dishevelled on the stage of an award show and told the host Salman that his hosting is soporific. Salman took extreme offence to the dig; he is still smarting from the insult that never was. No big deal - he is only 'being human'. Superegos are the natural by-product of superstardom, considering the Demi-God status accorded by the hysterical fans. What is pathological is carrying an innocuous perceived insult inside your heart for that long - and letting it affect you so much that you dictate professional relations to appease your injured pride.
I wonder how satisfied Salman is by the apologies galore from Arijit. Does the public spectacle amuse him or enrage him? Is he indifferent considering the newbie singer is no way in the same league as him... in seniority or clout? Clearly not, as according to reports Salman has officially banned the singer from singing for him. Or, could it be that he does not know how to backtrack? This macho hulk-of-a-man, must maintain his tough-guy image to keep future insult hopefuls in check? Notice all the nauseating Sirs and Ma'ms on stage at the award functions. Absolutely must pay your obeisance or else.... "Not only sing but dance to my tunes" is how it works in Bollywood. Poor Vivek Oberoi learned this lesson a little too late.
Talent Arijit has in abundance but not enough spine or else why would he bother grovelling and repeatedly begging for forgiveness? Is it real guilt for having done something wrong, inherent humility or plain pragmatism to be in the good books of a powerful banner?
What we are witnessing is the moral degeneration of creative people, caught in the crossfire of bloated ego, overt pampering, undercutting, one-upmanship, and sycophancy. The sole loser here is the voice of sanity in the cacophony of petty sounds and a fragile & frivolous face-off between David and the Goliath.
