Above the promised ‘Aladin’ promo, finally finding its way on the blog, after great amount of technical adjustments. Happens sometimes and we must accept that all technology does not work the way we want it to.

Today is also, Vishwakarma Puja. Vishwakarma, the maker of the universe. Traditionally prayers are offered to machines and mechanical acquisitions. Motor cars will be decorated with a garland over the bonnet, ‘kum kum’ the red vermillion shall be gently flung across the front, the auspicious coconut will be broken, incense sticks lit and the cars then allowed to move on for the day. The same procedure shall be followed on all machinery in the house. Old customs have a life through the ages and we follow them diligently because tradition compels us to respect the moment. In the days to come other traditions shall follow. It is that time of the year. During Diwali and Dashehra, the Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth shall be invoked and later all weaponry in the house shall be brought into ‘puja’. Note how wealth is related to a Goddess, a female. When a girl is born in a home the refrain is that ‘Laxmi has entered the house’. In a country where there still exist pockets of belief that the male child is more welcome than the girl. Where the atrocious practice of girl infanticide prevails, maybe it was a way in the philosophy of Hinduism to lend dignity to the female gender. In Bengal, where prominence is given to the Goddess Durga and Kali Ma, and depicted always as one that destroyed the evil, the lady of the house is mostly referred, respectfully as Ma, the Mother. Its an affectionate form of address. The lady may not necessarily be your Mother, but the lady is given the position or stature of the mother. Its much like in Gujarat where they shall affix the word ‘bhai’ or brother and ‘behn’, sister against the first name to even a stranger. Muslims do it too. The first name will be affixed with ‘bhai’ in conversational reference.

Is it not sad then, that despite the respectability that has been traditionally ingrained into our way of life, that hatred and violence creep into us. Tradition must have been through many a test before it was finalized for generations to abide by. Protectors of tradition and custom need to always bear this in mind, irrespective of what faith they belong to. No faith and belief that has been tested through time, has ever propagated evil, hate and violence. Yet it prevails.

And as I am acquainted with the days’ media coverage by my office, I come across this cutting from the DNA in today’s press -

It amuses me at the way in which this article has been written and the motive of its actual intent. Allow me first to dissect. Firstly, the photograph is all wrong. It is not the photograph taken at the Ganesh temple that the article says they visited in Malshej. It is a photograph taken at another occasion, in Mumbai when they visited the Ganesh Temple at Siddhivinayak in Prabhadevi. But who bothers authenticating it. The people see a photograph of them in temple mode and attire and believe the press. Press, or rather the by liner, Prithwish Ganguly goes to his filed photographs, picks one that matches his story and off it goes. The couple look in the right attire, bindi on head, religious scarves around their necks, head covered by the lady, ok this fits, print it. Not wanting to pay attention to certain facts that the public will never know about, namely, that Abhishek’s and Aishwarya’s look is the give away. In ‘Raavan’, the film the article talks about, Abhishek has a cropped hair style and a different beard and mustache. The look of Aishwarya is also different. So the first lie to the public is that your picture is wrong. Prithwish will defend by saying ‘we never said that the photograph belonged to the occasion, it is however depicting that they were at a temple’.. Fair enough. But ask the general public that, and you will get a 100% response that the picture is indeed of them at the Ganesh Temple near Malshej. You fooled the public Prithwish.

Lets observe some other little details. The article is a clever usage of a ploy that is often termed in marketing annals as the ‘reverse effect’. A negative situation is depicted deliberately, but the effect is positive. A politician, let us say for example, makes a sensational proclamation. Media prints it for the sensational content. Masses and others opposing it cry foul and cry loud. Media in its coded conduct of fairness, prints the ‘foul’ and the ‘loud’, prints opinions from experts, prints reactions and counter reactions, politician faces action and debate, conclusions are drawn at levels which the media is compelled to report and the matter holds the front pages for a fortnight. But what really has happened. The politician has hogged prominence, a must in public life and profile, by being on the front page, and damn the issue, at least everybody is taking his name , no ? Who cares if the publicity is good or bad, at least publicity has been achieved. Had he been doing something really righteous like saving the lives of farmers committing suicide for lack of funds due to heavy drought conditions on the failure of the monsoons, in paying back their loans, he would never have been covered anywhere near the front page. Indeed it would be a wonder if he was mentioned at all. Good deed does not sell in media, the evil and sensational does.

End result. No one cared about the sensation. Politicians name became talking point. Media revenue increased two fold. End of story, lets find another sensation, and to hell with the issue.

Mr Ganguly, in the article sub head line, writes - “with almost nothing going right ..” here’s where we judge where the tone and purpose of the article is directed. It is being conveyed that things are not ok with the film. For the distributors and exhibitors and those connected financially with the film, this is a clarion call to either withdraw, or cancel or not take interest in this ‘malaised’ product. The details of the events that seem to justify Mr Ganguly’s sub head line are sequentially all correct - the elephant, the ailments and the rain, but whoever said that the work was affected. Work has gone on fine Mr Ganguly and continues to. You would need to get off that office chair where you manufacture stories from and slog it out to Malshej and live a day in the conditions that they work, to know the reality. Incidentally rain is an essential ingredient of the film, so make sure you are adequately rain proofed. A mere umbrella will not suffice. And do take along some anti flu medication as also anti venomous vaccine - the location is infested with poisonous snakes and scorpions !

Moving on. PG (Wodehouse) ! writes - ” Abhi-Ash also seemed to have sensed something amiss “. This is classic journalistic voyeurism. PG..!! do educate me.. how did you ’seem to have sensed’ what Abhi-Ash were seeming to have sensed, when you yourself are unable to sense what has seemingly been sensed by two individuals in no proximity to you !! Mr Clairvoyant ! … baby ! You impress me !

Look how beautifully you have painted the tone of your article next -

“film’s release may also be delayed …”

“shaken the film makers …”

“gossiping .. now.. that film … seems to be jinxed…”

You have done it Mr Wodehouse !! Within the judicious us of your ’seems’ you have seemingly conveyed a couple of things. That the film is delayed, that film makers are shaken and that it is jinxed.

Legally you are safe, because of the smart way all media protects itself. The use of the words ‘may be’ is not definite, media never ever says it definitely in case it is proved wrong, your credibility would take a hike and that is all you have.

‘Shaken.. film makers..??’ Wow !! you actually left your chair and went across to a few of them and observed them shaking in their pants ? Adventurous !

‘gossiping … seems jinxed.. ‘ very clever !! legally gossip is not fact so cannot be challenged and then you are back to ’seems’ again, which is not a definite in the terms of the courts, and you have informed all the Industry and trade that the film is jinxed. Thank you dear man. You have been such an asset to the very golden goose that lays its eggs for you.

AND… yes.. finally … your ’sources’. Start using another trick PG ! This ones old and played out and pretty darn useless. There never are any ’sources’. We all know that and so does every reader. This is your gimmick to protect defamation in court … because you know that the ’source’ is a protected commodity by law.

So the ’source’ is actually your own voice behind which you hide. Your ’source’ even knew what they had prayed for - “the couple prayed for the protection and safety of the movie, cast and crew as well as themselves” - Ha ! Ha ! How did you find that out ?

What … ? they came out screaming what they asked Ganesh ji ? Or did they quietly whisper in it your ear ? But you yourself say later that they went in at a time when no one was around, so how did you get close. Bribed the priests ? No, no of course not, you are media, you are incorruptible, you are integrity, you are morals …

Oh ! No ! I’ll tell you what. You failed to get any gullible paid bystander to give a statement that he or she was denied access to the deity because the temple gave preferential access to a celebrity… Yaaah.. !! Thats it !! Remember how you pulled that off successfully when we visited Tirupati and a few other temples in the South.. ?

Remember how you carried headlines of how devotees were suffering the sun and heat without food and water waiting to enter the temple because Mr Bachchan was given preferential ‘darshan’ to the gods, breaking cue and protocol ??!!!

And then the closer. “Let’s wait and see if the Gods finally smiled”. Such a patented done to death closing statement. Used by every Tom Dick and PG, because they are scared to put a definite statement down. Have the guts to say - ” The Gods will not smile on them”, or ‘The Gods will smile on them” . Would you ever do that ? No. Because it is too definite for the health of your credibility.

So to come back to where I started from - reverse effect ! The article on the face of it is meant to be devotional in content, but has cleverly succeeded in planting all the negatives about the film. What comes out prominently is not that Abhi and Aish went to pay their respects at a Ganesh Temple, but to say really that ‘Raavan’ is a jinxed film.
In the end, to use your own vocabulary - lets wait and see if you were right in your accusation, PG

Good night dearest ones

Amitabh Bachchan