The Bachchan fiasco – a media created disaster

The Bachchan fiasco – a media created disaster

Goldie Behl was on centre stage and enjoying every moment. And in his exuberance and enthusiasm, the two film old director waxed loud his jubilance in English. As he handed the mike to Jaya Bachchan, the actress' opening line was, "I shall speak in hindi as the film has been made in hindi." Thereafter the actress only spoke about the film and her association with the Behl's.

Post that all the speakers on stage tried to speak as much hindi as their command of the language allowed. The last speaker was Priyanka Chopra. She started by saying, "since Jaya ji has said to speak in hindi...." Here she was interrupted by Jaya Bachchan. Jaya had her face turned away from Priyanka, but on hearing the statement, turned towards Priyanka and said.. "since we are from UP, we should speak in hindi". Jaya Bachchan was referring to Priyanka who hails from Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareilly district and herself, as her family is from Allahabad. The 'we' meant Priyanka and the Bachchans.

Taking the first statement completely out of context blew things out of proportion. And it required a humble Amitabh Bachchan to resolve matters by offering a public apology.

The issue here is "are celebrities targeted by politicians or by a media", who will manipulate things to garner more TRP's and sales figures? Raj Thackeray was not present at the function and went by the video clips shown across channels. The media was present and irresponsible journalism saw a situation being created where Mumbai city was once again the target of political activists.

Reputed english channels held debates with people from across all sections, be it Mahesh Bhatt or Sanjay Nirupam. Each had a story to narrate and a point to prove. But sitting in their plush offices in Mumbai and Delhi, did senior anchors, once the best reporters in the business and who conducted these shows, bother to see the entire footage before deciding on doing half hour specials and debates.
It is a sorry state of affairs and being a journalist, I am quite ashamed at what lengths one can go to grab some eyeballs.