Asli Superstar!!!

Let me put it straight. The man is Salman Khan and I dedicate this article to him and all his crazy fans who go gaga every time a movie releases. Besides, I would review the recent phenomenon called Dabangg though it is almost a month since the movie released.

Super-stardom is not about being a great actor and a thespian of the Dilip Kumar mould and winning recognition from the government for service to cinema. That’s pure professional honor; more of a pat in the back saying ‘Good job mate. You’ve done great’. Sachcha superstar is the one who may not be a role model for fellow actors but definitely an idol among the masses! When I say masses, it’s means the aam junta of our country, more so of our subcontinent. It doesn’t include the pretenders who question logic in every frame of a typical Indian movie. And what’s wrong in being truly Indian or a South Asian for that matter? These pretenders, watch the movie with the very intention of not enjoying it! The brains of these people are pirated as much as the movies they watch. They go by what the critics say. They read half the story before spending on a movie and lose half the fun. They never identify the critics as a bunch of jokers paid to review every frame of the movie. One who is very tough enough and gives 2/5 for an extremely enjoyable movie is viewed upon as a great critic. It’s all a self-conspired, self-inflicted ignorance of the way this country grew up.

We always have had a superhero and larger-than life character throughout history saving us from the bad guys starting from the mythological days of the Hindu deities, the Asokas, the Akbars right down to Mahatma Gandhi. Though we know it’s a collective effort, does anyone ever dare to question the logic behind history or the mythological special effects? We simply believe in heroism for the reason it existed.

And today we stand, discriminating people as masses and classes based on a movie. It’s derogatory to use such terms which signal as if the masses are no-brainers. The only difference I find is that masses are happy cheering a movie and the self-proclaimed classes wipes its tears after the movie saying ‘What a movie! A masterpiece’. I agree with them to some extent because the masses never fail to appreciate a good art movie when it comes by. They are not one-sided unlike the urban public who don’t even talk about mass-hero movies as if it’s way below their quality of life. They either watch it in pirated disks without the ambience of a cinema (single-screens, synonymous with the rural!) or they are ready to add to the multiplex collections of a bollywood movie shot entirely in New York and can make you cry for the money you paid!

I move to Dabangg now, the hidden agenda behind this post. Such movies have truly become rare in Bollywood. When did you last see people in plexes dancing and whistling? When did you last see public going wild over the intro-scene of the hero and each and every dialogue he mouths? In fact it all ended long back with Amitabh Bachchan. And it returns now and then in the form of Salman Khan in Tere Naam, Garv, Wanted and Dabangg to remind the locals that all is not lost when it comes to the desi flavor. What’s so special in the dialogue from Sholay- Kitne aadmi the? Just three words remembered even now. Where were the baaps of today’s plex audience then? They watched it and enjoyed it too.

Salman Khan is no great actor yet commands one of the biggest domestic fan bases. He is just himself in his movies. People see his persona and not the character. Who else can deliver one of the biggest blockbusters in Dabangg with a debutante co-star, producer and a director? He had failed his fans with multi-starrers in recent times but has proved time and again that people want him to be at his maddest best in his movies. As he says ‘ Bharosa, himmat aur taaqat bhi hai…aur paagalpan-hadh se zyaada!’

Today’s youngistaan is trying to act smart in sync with technology and standard of living. Being ourselves is no harm. Do we have our own style of movie making? This is it! Welcome to the genre of entertainment!