Shiney Ahuja -The  Euphonic, talented actor with curly hair (and a vague similarity with me, to boot!), has more or less become the ‘gangster’ of bollywood, with the recent turn of events. The ‘gangster’ tag wouldn’t have given much of a dismal appeal some three years ago, where the actor was applauded for his sterling performance in the hit movie of the same name. Ahuja’s career, already on a wane of sorts, hit a rock bottom with his arrest following allegations of rape by his housemaid on June 14th, Sunday.

CC Credits: Buzz 18

To say I was shocked would be a gross understatement – I was left dumbfound, for I’m a frontrunner among the (dwindling) community of the actor’s fans! If you ask why, well, I’ve no specific reason. Ahuja hasn’t carved a niche for himself when it comes to acting – his best debutant filmfare award seems to be his  sole credit. Strangely, Ahuja happens to be a half Malayali! His mom hails from Kerala, but that’s not a reason why I’m his fan. The steely facial expressions, the depictions of existential angst in Gangster and Life in a Metro, the ‘Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai song’ (among my favourites), and of course, the facial similarity might’ve given him brownie pints in my list. But that apart, I’ve always felt that this actor has a huge repository of unseen talent within.

No one (except Shiney and his 18 year old maid) can ascertain the veracity of the allegations. Shiney has apparently confessed having consensual sex with the maid – a fact corroborated by medical reports. The victim has alleged that Shiney ‘raped’ her between 2 and 5 PM at his Tarapore Gardens residence in Andheri while his wife (Anupama) and daughter (Arshiya) weren’t home. Shiney has a lot of support from the world of celebrities with people like Mahesh Bhatt, Mukesh Bhatt, Mohit Suri, Anurag Basu and actors Shakti Kapoor, Aman Verma and Chitrangda Singh supporting him. Even his wife believes in him, and dismisses the situation to be a frame up (Bravo, Anupama! )

Given the media blitzkreig and the attention the case has received, any commoner would feel a pang of cynicism – we have celebrities who still walk scot free after running down 4 people. With hush-hush rumours about Shiney being given ‘special’ treatment by the police (a statement, the police were quick to rebutt), Shiney today is at the other end of the media.

But just imagine, ninety nine percent of  country’s rapes go un-noticed, and even those cases that make it to the court have downright-abysmal conviction rates! With the might of a celebrity pitted at the other end, the (so-called) victim must really be applauded to move the court to fight against the morally-debasing injustice meted out to her! She refused to be cowed down  by the muscle power of her celebrity-’molester’ and decided to fight it out, kudos to that. Her fight for justice will be fractious nevertheless, the process will be tough and long drawn. With the trillion loopholes in the IPC, it won’t take a great effort from Shiney’s advocate to get a trademark kurta-aviator-glass-shaded-jeans clad actor out of gaol.

I feel there is some truth in Shiney’s consensual-sex statement. An actor of his stature needn’t force an unattractive,  hapless house maid against her will if he had the urge to ‘make out’. He’d get the girl of his choice without much effort, assuming the worst  (yes, even when he’s married and has a kid!). In that context, the rape argument doesn’t hold much ground. Interestingly, the girl runs away and ‘speaks out’ to the media exactly the same day, within hours of the ‘incident’! Too much coincidence? Could it be that the whole incident is a frame up of sorts with the girl seducing Shiney (or vice versa, maybe) and later crying ‘Rape!’?

In any scenario, the case is a major setbackl for Shiney Ahuja, who we won’t be seeing in the silver screen for a while, even with all the celebrity endorsement backing him. In a media blitz to make the most TRPs out of an ignominous quagmire, many lives will be in peril (especially the girl’s, if this isn’t her work).

Another day in the life of a nation of contrasts!

The Lask ink drop:

Preeti Jain (yes, the actor who said ace director Madhur Bhandarkar raped her 15 times) was arrested while protesting against Shiney Ahuja and burning his effigies with fifty odd people! Read the full story here.

Within three days,  seventy hundred and fifteen million Indians would exercise their electoral franchise in the world’s biggest democratic exercise. Indeed, a proud moment for all of us Indians. The power of democracy showcased in its sublimest way. Yet, there are many amongst us, people who call themselves ‘skeptics’. People who’ve decided not to vote for this elections, citing a feeble argument that it wouldn’t make a difference.

CC Credits: piccadillywilson

Trust me, if you’re a person like that, you’re making a VERY VERY grave mistake!

In fact it’s incumbent on us to do something for our Motherland. “Us” as in, you, me and the people around us. That’s why India is  called a democracy. The best thing we can do is to vote out the present government and give someone else a chance. Someone once said that  in a democracy, no government is brought to power – always, the ruling government gets thrown out. We are responsible for our leaders and our country – the best thing we can do is to “vote” and make sure we are heard. If you say that doesn’t make a difference – then please open your eyes! To quote the Jaago Re ad, you are SLEEPING!  It really does make a difference. By not voting you are allowing a corrupt government to continue in power/you are not allowing a progressive government to continue the process of reforms (depends on how you view the current political milieu). If you vote against a corrupt government, you are at least “trying” to push them down and vice versa. Does that ring a bell? People often say:  “None of the candidates I’m goanna vote for are good. Then why even bother?”. Unfortunately, that is truth – it’s necessary evil. The situation can be changed only by getting more and more people to involve in politics. Politics is not a bad thing. It’s one of the best jobs in the world. It gives immense power – the power to make the world a better place to live in! It’s just because of a handful (understatement, yes!) of selfish, power-hungry ‘leaders’ that politics has lost its sanctity . Get involved in politics of the country so that you make yourself heard and not leave the fate of the country to some party leaders. Who are party leaders after all? They are just citizens of the country – you are as much responsible as they are – the only point is that you need to VOTE!

Why do things like reservation come up? Its minority appeasement and nothing more! Everyone knows that. Why do they have to appease the minorities? The facts are simple. Its only the minorities who vote – and the guys in power know that. Whatever the govt does against the majority; the majority assumes to be blind and “curses” destiny/fate/God. But we bloody do not ealise that, we need to show them that we are also a part of the country – and we should show that not by celebrating the victory of Abhinav Bindra and Dhoni’s men but by voting and say “Hello! We are also citizens of this country”. The same applies to the minorities who’ve been suffering from the yoke of oppression since God knows when. They should realize that they’re as equal as the people who exploit them. They should stand up against hunger and poverty. They don’t realize the potency of the weapon in their hands… The power of electoral franchise!

Terrorism – India bled and hung its head down in shame at Mumbai on 26th of November – when ten-odd people held the commerical capital of India to ransom. More importantly, they did it where the most elite people of the country assemble! The Taj and Oberoi – the supposed hang out place for the guys who run the economy. The terrorists were making one fact clear. “Hello folks – see we got into your Taj and killed people. We can EASILY walk into your residential area and do it! Get it? So please stop iritating us for Kashmir – give that part to us” . They could have killed lakhs from the slums of Dharavi with half the investment. Then why did they choose to kill a few hundred and attack just the rich? The answer to all these riddles lie in the sole press of a button. The button that could change world. The buttons of the electronic voting machine!

You’ve time from April 16th to May 13th. Analyze the performance of your candidates, run a background check, and go vote! Spend 2-3 hours in the queue and elect your leader. You spend the same amount of time to watch a Bollywood movie. Time is precious. Use it… to vote!

Stand up. Speak out. Change!

P.S.

Heavily inspired by an e-mail from a friend.