Bollywood's Dark Underbelly
Statistics may suggest hundreds of helpless girls being molested, raped and murdered in the country every day. We just could not be bothered about them. But when someone from Bollywood is caught with his pants down, we love it. Why, asks Derek Bose Nobody knows whether Shiney Ahuja did his maid dirty. The domestic help says it was rape. He says it was consensual sex. His wife says it is a frame-up. The cops say the accused has confessed. The victim’s family wants him hanged. And Bollywood, as usual, is ambivalent, speaking in different voices. Expressions like “blackmail”, “soft target”, “no smoke without fire” and “honey trap” are being freely bandied about by all and sundry. The media circus that has accompanied this tragedy is nothing new. We have seen it every time a Bollywood celebrity is involved in a scandal and dragged to court. Crime then takes on a new colour. It becomes a source of entertainment. Statistics may suggest hundreds of helpless girls being molested, raped and murdered in the country every day. We just could not be bothered about them. But when someone from Bollywood is caught with his pants down, we love it. Rape committed by Shiney Ahuja is special. Other rape cases do not matter. The vicarious pleasure we derive from watching the high and mighty fall has a lot to do with how deeply Bollywood is ingrained in our collective psyche.
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