The vulgarity of money
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Mahmudur Rahman
THERE is something vulgar beyond the veneer of the outcry of democratic rights and such that permeate the recent controversy surrounding Shah Rukh Khan's latest film release My Name is Khan. It smells of money and the eternal clash between principles and cash.
Khan's comments on the need to involve Pakistan's cricketers in the IPL Cricket League led to him being soundly castigated by the fundamentalist Shiv Sena who have no love lost whatsoever when it comes to anything remotely connected with India's neighbour. Their call for a ban on Khan's film release appears to have had an effect in the Bollywood capital Mumbai where most cinema houses have backed out from screening the film. In the few houses where the film has been released owners are laughing their way to the banks in a country where cinema ticket prices are dictated by the hype of the film and its newness.
In between, thanks to the media, much like Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah, curiosity among the general public has led to unprecedented demand -- and thereby was triggering a ringing in the cash tills. Khan's public position has been to not decrying or demeaning the Sena views.
This has resulted in a positive swing of public opinion to his side even among those who were somewhat on the fence. But such has been the media hype that even in Europe, Berlin in particular tickets to his film were sold out in five seconds flat and e-bay auctions hawked 1000 euros for the price of a single ticket. And one must thanks the media for not having revealed as of yet, the basic story line of the film itself. For now, the movie-goer are basically going into the cinemas without much clue as to what they are paying for.
For all the hoo-hah, the Champions League Cricket organisers must take the cake for sacrificing cricket in favour of commercialism. Following on fears that Australian players, star attractions, were considering abandoning their home assignments in favour of participating in the absurdly cash rich tournament, the Indian Premier League, it now appears that England will have to consider re-scheduling their home competition to allow for their T/20 champion team to participate in the Champions League. The Australian players' thought process is a bit of a laugh considering the fact that this was the corner from where outrage surfaced initially about "burn out" from too many matches. Obviously, the green back is a potent balm to ease the niggles and fatigue of too much cricket-if there is anything as such.
Without going into the details of the commercial success or not of the Champions League, held in South Africa last time due to security concerns in India, it has to be said that street-smart planning when it comes to a complex sports such as cricket is not he way forward. Soccer or football organisers have managed to walk the tightrope with a convenient co-existence of international, regional and domestic competitions without too much fuss. Why cricket has all these issues is a matter to ponder given that football injuries and fatigue are far more prevalent than cricket itself.
Coming back to the issue of democratic rights, it is fascinating to think that the world's largest democracy can ban films-not directly connected with political issues, just because the stars or directors have taken stands on certain issues.
In time My Name Is Khan will, in all probability, be screened throughout India and indeed the world. In the meantime, there will be the usual musical chairs of talk shows, public and private comments. That is of course till the media find a new story to feast on. By then Khan will be busy with his accountants in working out the figures. (The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specializes in corporate affairs, communications and CSR. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
THERE is something vulgar beyond the veneer of the outcry of democratic rights and such that permeate the recent controversy surrounding Shah Rukh Khan's latest film release My Name is Khan. It smells of money and the eternal clash between principles and cash.
Khan's comments on the need to involve Pakistan's cricketers in the IPL Cricket League led to him being soundly castigated by the fundamentalist Shiv Sena who have no love lost whatsoever when it comes to anything remotely connected with India's neighbour. Their call for a ban on Khan's film release appears to have had an effect in the Bollywood capital Mumbai where most cinema houses have backed out from screening the film. In the few houses where the film has been released owners are laughing their way to the banks in a country where cinema ticket prices are dictated by the hype of the film and its newness.
In between, thanks to the media, much like Jaswant Singh's book on Jinnah, curiosity among the general public has led to unprecedented demand -- and thereby was triggering a ringing in the cash tills. Khan's public position has been to not decrying or demeaning the Sena views.
This has resulted in a positive swing of public opinion to his side even among those who were somewhat on the fence. But such has been the media hype that even in Europe, Berlin in particular tickets to his film were sold out in five seconds flat and e-bay auctions hawked 1000 euros for the price of a single ticket. And one must thanks the media for not having revealed as of yet, the basic story line of the film itself. For now, the movie-goer are basically going into the cinemas without much clue as to what they are paying for.
For all the hoo-hah, the Champions League Cricket organisers must take the cake for sacrificing cricket in favour of commercialism. Following on fears that Australian players, star attractions, were considering abandoning their home assignments in favour of participating in the absurdly cash rich tournament, the Indian Premier League, it now appears that England will have to consider re-scheduling their home competition to allow for their T/20 champion team to participate in the Champions League. The Australian players' thought process is a bit of a laugh considering the fact that this was the corner from where outrage surfaced initially about "burn out" from too many matches. Obviously, the green back is a potent balm to ease the niggles and fatigue of too much cricket-if there is anything as such.
Without going into the details of the commercial success or not of the Champions League, held in South Africa last time due to security concerns in India, it has to be said that street-smart planning when it comes to a complex sports such as cricket is not he way forward. Soccer or football organisers have managed to walk the tightrope with a convenient co-existence of international, regional and domestic competitions without too much fuss. Why cricket has all these issues is a matter to ponder given that football injuries and fatigue are far more prevalent than cricket itself.
Coming back to the issue of democratic rights, it is fascinating to think that the world's largest democracy can ban films-not directly connected with political issues, just because the stars or directors have taken stands on certain issues.
In time My Name Is Khan will, in all probability, be screened throughout India and indeed the world. In the meantime, there will be the usual musical chairs of talk shows, public and private comments. That is of course till the media find a new story to feast on. By then Khan will be busy with his accountants in working out the figures. (The writer is a former Head of Corporate & Regulatory of British American Tobacco Bangladesh, former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board and specializes in corporate affairs, communications and CSR. He can be reached at e-mail: mahmudrahman@gmail.com)