Editorial

This curse called fear

There is truly no option for the industry vis a vis the current mafia invasion. It is a situation where the industry has to either live with it or move out of Mumbai to a safer city. And the choice of a safe city is itself difficult to make as the tentacles of the crime world can spread to any city in the country

YET another shoot out has stirred the industry into asking the question: Who next?

The mafia invasion which began with the daylight killing of Gulshan Kumar, the audio music business tycoon, three years ago has now apparently come to stay. Each time an attack is made on the life of a famous personality who has earned deserving success the industry expresses shock and disbelief and, for a while, the weak and terrified in the fraternity take cover in temporary anonymity. When life returns to normal which, in a city like Mumbai, doesn’t take long, they are back in the mainstream of showbusiness as if nothing really happened.

The Rakesh Roshan incident has had the expected impact. It was a signal from the mafia that it is still around, keeping a vigilant eye on the industry. A message to filmmakers that monetary gains have to be shared or else...

If it weren’t for his wonderful father’s blessings and his own inherent goodness, Rakesh Roshan could have been killed. He is recovering in the iCU of Nanavati Hospital, which has been taking good care of him, but Rakesh Roshan will not be the same Rakesh Roshan he was before the shoot-out for a long while to come. The deserving success he’s got with Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai has brought with it a price that men of Rakesh’s character will resist paying. And the battle will have to be fought alone. His friends in the industry will give him lip sympathy and support, cancel muhurats, shootings, parties to demonstrate their caring, abstain from participating in social happenings not because they are deeply upset by whatever has happened to a friend at a time when he should have been on top of the world, but because they are afraid of being targetted by the same thugs.

The crucial question as to whether there will be an end to this terrorism will remain unanswered for the simple reason that the industry has never ever been able to take a united stand on any issue.

As Anupam Kher remarked in the course of his ‘thank you’ speech at the SCREEN-Videocon awards, there is truly no option for the industry vis a vis the current mafia invasion. It is a situation where the industry has to either live with it or move out of Mumbai to a safer city. And the choice of a safe city is itself difficult to make as the tentacles of the crime world can spread to any city in the country.

Rakesh Roshan has not only bailed the industry out of a bad phase of box-office failures but has also gifted the industry with an exceptionally talented star. In an industry starved of star material, the entry of a potential mega star has to be hailed and celebrated. Sadly though, the Roshans, instead of celebrating, are in the grip of fear and will hereafter move around with gun men following them. Which is sad because the Roshans are among the most honest and goodnatured celebrities in the movie industry.

Udaya Tara Nayar