THE WONDERFUL LIFE OF THE IDIOT BOX
Most stars when interviewed say
they hate running around trees, singing silly songs and running in slow motion
looking, please note, fabulously beautiful. They say they want to do meaningful
cinema.
Heyyyy…maybe when you are a big
Bollywood super-duper star with millions of fans (and millions of bucks in the
banks) you can say that. But me….. give me a chance to do the same and I will
do it for free.
As all other Indian kids I too
was brought up on a dose of Hindi movies, Chitrahaar and in those days Pakistani
serials and some pretty popular American serials. Not too much of meaningful
cinema there.
We didn’t have cable TV then nor did
we have TV for the whole day and night. The evening would begin with “Krishi Darshan”
(a programme on Doordarshan for farmers) and go on to some serials and song
programmes. Today of course I can’t imagine living without a day full of
serials, songs, movies and news.
I am what they say a couch
potato…I can watch serials and movies the whole day as if participating in a
marathon to see who wins the competition to have seen the most TV. I just love
the world of make believe, transporting me to a fantastic place away from the
drudgery of everyday life.
Complications and issues get
solved, villains get beaten up, the good get better, the nasty are taught
lessons they remember their whole lives, the corrupt are thrown in jails, the
poor get rich, the rich love the poor, everyone looks beautiful, glitzy and
glamorous and the hero wins…always. That doesn’t happen in real life does it? Doesn’t
happen in meaningful cinema too.
Bone tired from making money for
the company you work for, there is no better way to rest and relax and chill
than in front of the idiot box. Idiot box it may be but for a few brief moments
it gives you hope of a wonderful world where everything is beautiful and
nothing can go wrong.
Who wants to watch meaningful
cinema when you watch the drama and theatrics of meaningful cinema every minute
of every day in your own life. What you really want to do is escape from the
real world and give yourself a break from the rigours of monotony.
What a great job it is to create
the “meaningless” cinema and TV that we love so much. No wonder that the world
of Bollywood and TV and all the creative minds behind it all have defined our entertainment
world for so long and continue and will continue to rule our hearts.
No body ever put it so well.More power to u n the housewives.
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