North East snubbed at in Phir Mile Sur

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

It has been more than two decades that Indians first heard a song 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara.' Few would have realised that this song would be something next just to the National Anthem. In the single channel Doordarshan era it was one of the most sought after programmes. The song which represented India and had Bollywood stars, musicians, cultural icons, sportsman and ordinary people. Cut to 26th January 2010 and we get a remixed version of the original song which mesmerised us for more than two decades.

To spread the message of 'unity and diversity' once again in a rising and fast globalising India 'Phir Mile Sur' was conceived. But the question is where was North-East in the entire video? The original one at least featured a dance sequence which had all the major tribes from North East. The only representation of the entire region was through an immobile Bhupen Hazarika and Mary Kom packing a few punches.

Was that all about North-East? Although it is easy to blame the mentality of the people in the mainland behidn this, but the truth lies elsewhere. The entire 16 minutes video seemed to be a representation of Bollywood stars more than anything else. Where were our cricketers? Doesn't Sachin Tendulkar stand a place among Abhinav Bindra and Vijender Singh? Cricket has always been blamed for our failure in other sports but the fact remains it is the most popular sport in India.

Coming to the issue of North East, the region not missed out on the video but has surely lost percentage in the footage compared to the original song. The reason for this is very simple, the region doesn't have any major stars in Bollywood and it slipped out of the mind of video director whose only claim to fame has been directing Kailash Surendranath a Bollywood pot-boiler Love You Humesha. If lack of awareness and creativity needs any example Phir Mile Sur would be in the lead.

What was the director's though process behind the entire video? NE wasn't represented not because the director had some bias but because he wasn't even aware enough have a bias in his mind. Why on earth did the make the video in the first place? If it was to represent unity in diversity why is the end product to poor? The makers of the video should think back and reflect upon their idea, it this what they feel will unite India?

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Phir Mile 'Bollywood' Ke Sur

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

15th August 1988 Indians heard a song 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara.' Few would have realised that this song would be something they would hum for rest of their lives. In the single channel Doordarshan era it was one of the most sought after programmes. The song which had Bollywood stars, musicians, cultural icons, sportsman and ordinary has its appeal even in the new millennium India. The song's popularity can be judged from the fact that it is one of the highest searched videos in YouTube.

Cut to 26th January 2010 and we get a remixed version of the original song which mesmerised us for more than two decades. To cash on this popularity of 'Mile Sur Mera Tumhara' and to spread the message of 'unity and diversity' once again in a rising and fast globalising India 'Phir Mile Sur' was conceived. But did it do justice to the original song? Is it better than the original which still sounds catchy after so many years?

First and foremost it seems more like a Bollywood ke sur thing than the unity in diversity thing which it intends to be. At 16 minutes it seems never ending montage of musical beats. What was the entire idea behind the entire song. Wasn't it to show 'unity in diversity'? But the beats of the song which never matched from one transition to another and it showed more of diversity and no unity at all. Salman Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Abhishek Bachchan his wife Aishwarya, Amitabh Bachchan seem to be representing India to it's producers.

Cricketers have been snubbed. Can the producers explain why someone called Sachin Tendulkar doesn't find a space in the never ending video? Is there a bigger Marathi icon than Sachin? Or for that matter why leave out Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble or Rahul Dravid? Well bashing cricket seems to be the only justification of our poor performance in all other sports. When Abhinav Bindra and Vijender Kumar who feature in the video were buying peanuts outside their school Sachin was scoring runs for India!

And the never ending bias towards North East. In 2010 you would expect people to be a little more sensitive about such issues. But no NE is represented by a Manipuri boxer and Assam's Bhupen Hazarika. What about the six other states of the region? NE has lost not just in time but in terms of percentage from the original video. When a region feels alienated from the rest the people who conceived this video should shown some more sensitivity and intellect.

For all the hype it created, 'Phir Mile Sur' turns out to be a complete dud. It was more like an advertisement for Bollywood at international film festivals rather than a video which will unite India. The old Mile Sur still seems to be rocking.

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Tiger Woods would have loved to be in India

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

“Just another day in the life of a tiger” that's the tag line the Accenture ads used to come with and for the last six years the ace golfer was the face of the Global consulting, outsourcing and technology company were inseparable. But the event of the last two weeks had meant that not only has Tiger's personal life has become the most sought after gossip in the Western Media. A man who was regarded a legendary sportsman has been brought down by the paparazzi in a matter of just two weeks.

From a extra marital affair, the paparazzi made sure that Woods woke up to one new affair every morning. Although Tiger has accepted to adultery it is not quite sure how many of those stories are actually true? This particular incident once again showed how bad 'Yellow Journalism' can become. It shows the fact that in a highly developed society privacy is a rare commodity. Paparazzi stories sometimes become the USP of certain publications which from media perspective is a sad thing.

This incident had also given us a insight into the mentality of the western world. The people in the developed countries not having to worry about the basics of life are more interested in knowing about the wrongs in other people's lives. In developing countries like India. Politics, recession and weather report still matter to people as they don't have the shield against any of them. Celebrities in India might just part India's development doesn't come with the free gift of paparazzi.

It's quite a good thing that in India celebrities are still getting to enjoy a personal life of their own and not being chased by shutter bugs around the world. Indian celebrities aren't still worried about what they would read about themselves in the next morning's tabloids. There are no websites targeting particular celebrities like they have in the western media. Indian media is still by and large responsible as compared to our western counterparts.

What Tiger Woods might be wrong but the was media treated this issue was even graver. They not only blew up the issue but made sure there was very little left for Tiger Woods after the incident. With endorsement deal going always and his golf career at stake for ones Tiger would have hated being in a developed society. A third world country would have given him more space to deal with the issue in a manner he would have liked to.

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China wants Indian media gagged

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

As if threatening us with regular military intrusion all across the border wasn't enough the Chinese now want a gag on Indian media. In a recent news that appeared on a state-run Chinese newspaper, the officials accused the Indian media of trying to present a bleak picture of the Sino-Indian relations. The news article further went on to add that the Indian media was raising a war rhetoric and sowing the seeds of enmity between the two countries.

This piece of news comes amidst reports that the Chinese border guards intruded into Ladakh and painted boulders and rocks red there. Although China denied any such intrusion it is anybody's guess as to why would somebody paint the stones red in such a harsh terrain. Although China plays a regular cat and mouse game with India this is the first time that they have hit out at the Indian media for maligning China's image.

The reason a state-run Chinese newspaper has been able to do that is because the way our government deals with the communist nation. Too often than not Indian government has always acted spineless when it has come to China. New Delhi doesn't seem to have come out if the shock of 1962 war and is willing to take any level of breach in its security from China with folded hands. The government doesn't even raise a strong protest with Beijing forget taking any military action.

It is a well known fact that at present China is a bigger military threat than Pakistan for India and New Delhi is is no mood to have any military conflict with China. If there is a logic which says India should not go on a war with China, the same logic also says that Chinese will not want to fight a war with India. The call here is not for the Indian government to be aggressive against the Chinese but to be assertive while dealing with them.

On Chinese government official trying to gag the Indian media, well it is not surprising coming from a country where there is no 'Right to Freedom' and 'Freedom of Speech'. Chinese administration has always crushed people who have spoken out against it so they are not used to criticism. The Indian media need not give an ear to what the Chinese government say, after all it is the same government which runs tanks on its own citizen and returns the call for democracy with a 'Tiananmen Square'

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Pakistani media's conspiracy theories

By: Subhadeep Bhattacharjee

The aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks have not only exposed the true picture of Pakistani democracy but has also given an insight into Pakistani media. When General Pervez Musharraf was in power we witnessed severe protest for restoration of democracy. The Pakistani media played a pivotal role in these protest like the media of a free nation should do. But their recent stand towards the Mumbai terror attacks has raised several question marks on their ethics.

Barring a few news channels and newspapers most of Pakistani media went into a Pakistani defensive mode even when the operations were going on in Mumbai. They were conspiring nonsense theories which they themselves would not have believed. They blamed the Indian media of sensationalising the entire issue. True the Indian media sensationalised the entire terror strikes to a certain extent but unlike our Pakistani counterparts we did on forget the greatest ethic of journalism that of reporting the truth.

I happened to see some of such conspiracy television news programmes by the Pakistani television channels on YouTube and other sources. Some of such conspiracy theories are:

Ajmal Amir Kasav's actual name is Amar Singh and he is a resident of Indian state of Punjab and a RAW agent. (Wonder why they framed his name as Amar Singh and not LK Advani)

The Mumbai Terror attack was staged by RAW and there was no Pakistani involved directly or indirectly with it. (It won't be surprising if Pakistan claims that there is no district such a Faridkot in Pakistan)

The terrorist caught alive was also a RSS member as he was wearing a saffron band in his hand. (In very shady pictures shot at night they were able identify the colour of the band. They would have been sure of the band colour even if it were a B/W image.

The Indian foreign policy is prepared by the Israeli spy agency Mossad. (We surely know who runs the finance ministry in Pakistani)

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by India to prevent restoration of democracy in Pakistan. (As if elections and so called democracy has changed the centre of power in Pakistan)

Maulana Masood Azhar was a journalist who was captivated by India without any criminal charges. (If Pakistani journalists are capable of forming terrorist outfits than we surely know whom to be scared of.)

Any society will grow and mature when people are free to express their opinion. But when freedom of press is synonymous to sheer nonsense even divine intervention can do very little for betterment of such a nation.

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