Just when we were getting a little sick of the Bachchan brigade and the so-called IIFA razzmatazz, another Bollywood star dominated the media –
Shiney Ahuja, of course.
It's another matter that the reason for Shiney to hog the limelight was a serious criminal offence like rape. But dominate the airwaves he did, actually getting ample coverage in all kinds of media possible on this planet. Every newspaper, TV channel and website worth its salt designed features around Shiney and created special slots for him.
The 'IIFA Weekend', which had just got over at the awards in Macau, was instantly and completely forgotten. Suddenly from
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan,
Abhishek Bachchan,
Amitabh Bachchan and the stars who agreed to tag along, the cameras zoomed to a Bollywood actor who has just about managed to make a career in films.
One can imagine the smile on the faces of editors and media head honchos – after all, the actor's court case will go on for sometime and people are not going to forget it easily. Which means, it's at least a month's content, and loyal eyeballs and visitors. Follow up stories will continue for a year.
This is not to say that this kind of bad publicity is going to help Shiney in his career, or whatever remains of his career. Neither is this piece looking at the whole thing at a frivolous level. It's merely an observation like the many made when the '26/11' carnage was aired live.
As the drama unfolds, the
Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi actor's fans are hoping he's not committed the crime, and the skeptics are making stories about him even before the case goes to court. But of course, if found guilty, people everywhere would want him behind bars, to set an example for such offenders.
But the fact is that this man is a newsmaker for the rest of the month, and more – whether you like it or not.
We don't know what the said victim or the actor's wife are actually going through, but for Shiney, maybe this is what
Life in a Metro has turned out to be. And it's more like a warning sign for the rest of us to control our demons under all circumstances.
Shiney Ahuja takes over the Bachchans
