A nation of bitches
We, collectively, have become a nation of bitches. Ready to be slapped, ready to be plundered, ready to be f*** and we feel so happy about it that there is a tension and joyous build-up every time this happens. They come in hordes, kill, kidnap, murder, shoot people right in front of everyone's faces, and we go on to immortalize them by making them our idols. I am talking about the genre of Bollywood movies that have started idolizing every single gangster and hooligan who plagues the nation.
I recently learned that the movie Gangster was actually based on this dirtbag Abu Salim's life. And then started remembering Shootout at Lokhandwala, D and its sequel Company. How sick does one need to be to actually glorify someone who has come and shot your brother dead in broad daylight? And how effeminate one must be to stand in awe in front of a theater showing the life of a guy (more like hero-worshipping him) who is probably responsible for the kidnap, rape and death of your neighbour's daughter? There is a difference between depicting reality and paying homage. Vaastav and Hathyar are the former: they show the way we as a society gradually turn a simple boy into a maniac who finally has to be shot dead by his own mother. Depictions of D and Company, on the other hand, are homages to the gangsters and people who have probably killed someone you know: directly or indirectly.
And more importantly, look at the way these characters are portrayed in the movies: they are the height of coolness! There is a slick way in which they go on to kidnap little kids and extort money from a person. There is a certain aura of godly authority when they come and kill/torture a person asking for money: it is their due, of course! We don't see them as the scoundrels they are: we see these on-screen gems, performing heights of bravery, undergoing special training in shooting guns, ripping off people's chests with a blunt knife, and doing a lot of stuff. To us, they become the closest equivalent of macho men, rugged, strong people who can terrorise the police at will! And sometimes they will let the wife and kids live, out of sheer generosity. Damn cool, don't you think?
There is a new movie coming out, about guess who... Ajmal Kasab. I'm pretty sure his role will be played by some good actor. I am pretty sure as he will be shown as this dude undergoing extreme physical training under hardships, learning guerilla warfare and becoming the perfect commando. Then there will be this shot of him going around the Mumbai CST station with a gun with a certain swagger in his way of walking, just shooting some scampering rats Indians. I am pretty sure he will have a tag line and a catchy way of wearing this cap around his head that will become the next style icon. And then you will go to watch the film, dote over his acting, muse to yourself how the Pakistani terror camps make you mentally and physically strong. You will literally be in love with the guy, ready to be shot at, fucked, kidnapped all over again.
And there will be this short 10 minute segment about the police officer Hemant Karkare dodging bullets, slipping and being shot by Ajmal. He will inevitably be a fat bulging dude who just happened to be caught without his aides. And then you will see his life ending in a Clint Eastwood-esque scene with the terrorist holding the gun at his forehead and saying, "Tell me, punk, do you feel lucky?". Like I said, we are becoming a nation of bitches.

