Re Sultan

I am a hardcore Salman Khan Fan and trust me, not many people know this. I am scared of being tagged as someone who is stupid enough to like someone like Salman who is a criminal and makes rude remarks against women and so many other things. I was contemplating on watching Sultan for a very long time, fact being, I was very excited about this movie. And then the whole "rape" remark agitated many groups of the society. I call myself a feminist and I wasn't sure if I should watch this movie given that the remark that Salman made was very offensive. I hadn't read much about the whole story, it was just what the social media was feeding me.

I must admit, I watched the movie anyway and I am daring to publicly state my opinion on how I liked the movie and what I felt about the remark.

The movie has already done a multi crore business and I understand why this is so. Me liking it or not liking it won't do any good, or add to the profits. This is just a third angle to the entire rave that has been going on. With most people boycotting this movie and another upcoming movie on similar lines, I was pretty intrigued,

Salman has again pulled a great performance in this movie. The subject is equally important. The actors will get money, appreciation and few awards and this movie, like any other movie (Chak De, Mary Kom) will be forgotten, and the lesser known sports will always continue to exist under the shadow of Cricket. 

There are numerous, very famous Indian sportsmen and women who are gathering accolades for India in so many other sports apart from Cricket and we are not aware of it. I do not blame it on media. I blame it on the audiences, the public who hold the power of making anything huge. This movie is already a superhit. Let's ask ourselves, what will wrestling as a sport be in a few years? Will it be as famous as the movie? Will the wrestlers in India, after winning medals, be as rich as the actors now are after starring in a movie about wrestling? No!

Thanks to the film fraternity who have been responsible enough to showcase the missing gaps in the society and portraying it through films. Films like Sultan are not supposed to be for sheer entertainment. They are supposed to highlight the state of the society and reach out to the masses. Sultan has done exactly that.

I have immense respect for Salman Khan. Accepting the fact, that in most of the scenes, they would have used a body double, but the efforts put in physically and emotionally in such a movie is intensely tremendous. For Salman, at the age of 50, even more so. Can any 30 year old challenge his fitness? I guess no! And that's why I am a huge fan of this guy.

Secondly, this is the comment that he made that was really derogatory:  "When I used to walk out of the ring, after the shoot, I used to feel like a raped woman. I couldn't walk straight." 

Before I write anything about this, anyone who has ever abused using pleasantries like "M*d*rch*d, Bh*nch*d, Chutiya", and condemned Salman for being so insensitive, stop reading right here and go wash your hypocrite face and think about what you want in life!

May be wrestling, to someone who is new, is very agonizing. May be it feels like you have been ripped off your modesty and you are naked in public, especially when are you being beaten left and right. Many times, people have called "College Viva" as being raped by the professor and they are exactly the ones who are taking offences to the statement that Salman made. To all those who casually use abuses, to the feminists who proudly use words such as Chutiya and the likes, you have no right to take offences.

Salman is not made to be politically correct all the time. All of us make derogatory remarks in one way or the other. It's just that, we are not famous, we are not quoted, and there is sadly no big deal coming out of it. So you know, it remains within four walls or between the silences of bubbling drinks or insane laughters or on whatsapp pings.

I don't have problems with expressions. I have problems with hypocrisy. The social media is so powerful that it can make or mar a certain thing entirely. This movie, and another movie- Dangal starring Aamir Khan is already under the scrutiny of people who are ready with pens to attack the movie industry for starring these actors in movies on prevalent topics that need national attention. As responsible as these stars should be, so should the public. 

I wonder despite all the offences that people take, why do such movies end up becoming super duper hits with immense money flowing into the producers account? We write, and we go and watch. My problem is not "Opinion", my problem is "hypocrisy", and I am so done with this.

Sultan was one of the best movies of the year, with outstanding performances from Salman, Anushka, and Randeep Hooda. I am eagerly looking forward to Dangal too. And I will wait and watch how the elements twist and turn the situation and come up with useless stories to stir the public mentality! 

And wait for these not-so-famous sports to become atleast 10% as acceptable and famous as Cricket, knowing that the person inside the ring won't be Salman Khan or any other movie star!